WINDSOR — The Perryville Lady Pirates continued their early-season softball schedule with a split of two road games this week, putting together a strong offensive and pitching performance at East Carter before facing a tough Windsor team.
Perryville opened the week Tuesday with a 9-1 victory over the East Carter Lady Redbirds before traveling to Windsor Thursday, where the Lady Pirates fell 10-2 to the Lady Owls.
The split moved Perryville to 2-1 on the season.
Against East Carter, Perryville jumped on the Redbirds early and never looked back.
The Lady Pirates scored 2 runs in the first inning, added 3 in the second and 2 more in the fourth before finishing with 2 runs in the sixth. Perryville collected 6 hits and took advantage of 6 walks in the victory.
Ava Robles led the Lady Pirates offensively, going 3-for-3 with 3 runs scored, 2 hits and 2 RBI. Nora Cowell added a hit and scored a run, while Lilly Cowell also collected a hit and drove in a run. Adriana Robles contributed a hit and a run.
Lilly Cowell also turned in a strong performance in the circle, working all four innings and allowing 2 hits and 1 run while striking out 10.
The victory gave Perryville some confidence heading into Thursday’s matchup with Windsor, but the Lady Owls presented a much different challenge.
Windsor, which advanced to the Final Four in Class 4 last season and returned a number of players, scored 3 runs in the first inning and eventually pulled away for a 10-2 victory.
Perryville’s young roster struggled to find its footing early.
“We went in with some self-help and a little nerves,” head coach Jim Simpson said. “And we just made some ... mistakes in the first inning.”
Still, Simpson was encouraged by what he saw after the difficult opening frame.
After spotting Windsor a 3-0 lead, the Lady Pirates settled down and played five solid innings against one of the area’s better teams.
“I was proud of them,” Simpson said. “After that rough start, we settled in.”
Perryville finished with 7 hits against Windsor and had opportunities to produce more offense, including multiple situations with the bases loaded. The Lady Pirates managed only 2 runs, however, as Windsor repeatedly made the plays necessary to escape trouble.
“We couldn’t get the big hit,” Simpson said. “We’ve been hitting the ball really well.”
The Lady Pirates also hit several balls hard, but aggressive baserunning occasionally worked against them. Simpson said Windsor deserves credit for making plays and taking advantage when Perryville made mistakes.
Perhaps the biggest positive from the loss was simply staying in the game.
Simpson pointed out that it was the first time in four years Perryville had made it past three innings against Windsor at the varsity level.
“So in itself, that’s a win,” Simpson said.
The Lady Pirates will use the weekend to rest and recover before returning to practice Monday. Perryville will then begin a round-robin stretch, with Hillsboro scheduled to visit for the Lady Pirates’ first home game.
For a young Perryville team, Simpson said the season will be about learning from every game.
“This is going to be a year of either we win or we learn,” Simpson said. “And we got to keep improving.”
