There was a noticeably different feel at Chip Liner Field following Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe’s 8-0 softball win over Ridgeland on Tuesday. It was the feel of tournament time approaching, and from the way the Lady Warriors played on this senior night, they’re ready for the challenge.

Using a rare big inning at the plate and Jessica Penney’s three-hit, eight-strikeout pitching, LFO earned a season split with the Lady Panthers. At 6-2 in Region 6-AAA, they still have hope of catching Ringgold atop the league standings heading into the region tournament Oct. 4.

After going 0-2 against Ridgeland and Ringgold in the first round of region games, Tuesday’s game was a lift for LFO coach Tony Ellis, who saw his seven seniors end their home careers in style.

Staff Photo by Patrick Smith Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe's Lindsey Lowe gets a two-run hit in the fifth inning of their game against Ridgeland. LFO led 7-0 at the end of the fifth inning.

“It’s senior night and the girls didn’t want to go out losing to Ridgeland,” Ellis said. “These seniors have had a great career here. Ridgeland has a great ballclub — they beat us 1-0 at their place — and we’ll probably see them again. J.P. (Penney) probably pitched the best game she’s had all year. She used both sides of the plate and hit her spots. And the other seniors all contributed.”

The game’s biggest play kept the Lady Panthers off the scoreboard and displayed what’s been a stout LFO defense all season. With Mallory Epperson on first base with two outs in the third inning, Ridgeland’s Haley Lawson — who beat Penney with a homer in the last meeting — lined a double to the center-field fence. LFO’s Lindsey Lowe fielded it and hit shortstop Kayla Elswick with the cutoff throw. Elswick then showed off her strong arm by throwing a strike to catcher D Elswick to nail Epperson by two feet.

“You can’t execute that relay any better,” Ellis said. “That’s three of our seniors right there — Lowe, Kayla and D Elswick. That kept them off the board. It would have been 1-0 and it could have been a different game.”

The Lady Warriors (21-5) broke the scoreless tie on Maddie Bray’s two-out single in the third, then broke it wide open in the fifth with six runs off usually stingy Ridgeland pitcher Jessie Forrester. All six runs scored with two out. Lowe got the first big hit, a two-run single, and Megan Kovacevich followed with an RBI single, Kayla Elswick hit a two-run double and Jennifer Friar had a run-scoring triple.

“We’ve been struggling some to get big hits, but we did good tonight,” said Kayla Elswick, who had three of LFO’s 12 hits. “It just feels really good to win our last home game, especially since they beat us last time. Hopefully we can keep it going like this as we head into the tournament.”

Jodi Archer and Shelby Robertson added two hits each for the Lady Warriors, who end their regular season next Tuesday at Ringgold.

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