WALKER — The 22nd-seeded Northshore Lady Panthers were mere outs away from pulling off an upset in the opening round of the Class 5A state softball playoffs.
But a big rally in the bottom of the sixth inning proved to be the difference in this postseason affair.
The Lady Panthers led 3-1 heading into the decisive frame, but the 11th-seeded Lady?Kats from Walker sent three runs across the plate to emerge with a 4-3 victory.
Despite the loss, Northshore head coach Melanie Eades, whose team finished with a 15-9 overall record, had very high praise for her squad.
“This group, chemistry-wise, is probably the best team we’ve ever had,” the Lady Panthers mentor said. “We have a lot of hard-working seniors on this team and their great leadership helped carry us all season long.”
Northshore got out of the gates quickly against Walker, plating a run in the first and third innings to build a 2-0 lead.
Walker came back and scored a run in the fourth, but the Lady Panthers answered with a run of their own in the top of the fifth to regain the two-run advantage.
Northshore tallied eight hits during the game, and Angie Gutierrez sparked the offensive attack with two of those hits, one of which was a solo home run.
Camryn Cottingham and Jessica Dicharia both had a single and an RBI to help the offensive charge of Northshore.
Other Lady Panthers to record a hit during the game were Emily Dubuisson, Mallory Subervielle, Kat Cognevich and Zari Johnson.
On the mound, Northshore’s Missy Clark went the distance and allowed seven hits.
Katlyn McKenzie was the winning pitcher for Walker.
“Both pitchers did a good job tonight,” Eades said. “But we left too many runners on base.”
The Lady Panthers stranded a total of seven runners over the seven-inning affair.
Madison Munson led Walker on offense with three hits in three trips to the plate.