Lady Cougar softball competing in Azalea tourney

The Lady Cougars softball team will compete in the Azalea High School Tournament this week in Summerville against Clover and other area teams.

YCHS head coach Susan Lee Ballard is still looking for the right combinations. She said the Azalea tournament will provide the opportunity to evaluate players before more Region 3-AAAA play.

“We look forward to participation in the Summerville tournament,” said Ballard. “We feel our players will benefit from the experience.”

Last week, the Lady Cougars held Rock Hill for six innings before the Lady Bearcats pulled away with a four-run seventh inning to win 9-4.

With the host York team leading 3-1 after four innings, Rock Hill pushed across two runs in the top of the fifth, knotting the score at 3-all.

The YCHS girls answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth-inning, regaining the lead at 4-3.

But the Lady Bearcats scored two runs in the sixth inning and four in the seventh to seal the win.

Sophomore catcher Madeline Davis and freshman Samantha Van Camp paced the hitting for the Lady Cougars, each with two hits in four at-bats.

Davis also had two RBIs and Van Camp drove in a run for York.

Makala Love had two hits in four at-bats. She also scored a run.

Freshman Destini Love scored a double for the York team. Cayla Campbell was one-for-three and DeQuizha Love drove in a run for York. Emalee Smith scored two runs and Kirsten Loftin scored a run.

Though Ballard is looking for more wins, she knew after the game that the Lady Cougars had battled another region team for six innings until the seventh when Rock Hill took charge.

“It started out tight,” said Ballard. “We got in some trouble towards the end.”

Ballard said the YCHS team started out hitting the ball against the Bearcat visitors.

“We got into some pitching troubles later in the game,” she said. “We thought maybe we could play it back the other way in the bottom of the seventh, but we didn’t. We had some hard hit balls right at somebody.”

Despite several tough losses, especially in the region, Ballard recognizes the team’s potential.

“We do have kids that can compete,” she said. “We’re not putting it together at the right time.”

Ballard hopes everything will mesh before the Lady Cougars return to region action at 7 p.m. April 7 against preseason favorite Northwestern.

“We’ve got a good team,” said Ballard. “We’re not getting the wins. We’ve got to do that.”

Ballard believes in this year’s YCHS softball team. “We’re a better team than we are showing on our record,” she said.

Ballard is encouraging the Lady Cougar players to remain focused and to believe in themselves.

“We’ll just take the games one at a time and try not to let one slip away,” she said. “We’ve got to turn some things around. We need to do it quick, and it’s not happening.”

She added: “We’ve got potential. We’ve got players with some talent. It’s got to come together.”

This story was originally published March 30, 2015 at 1:51 PM with the headline "Lady Cougar softball competing in Azalea tourney."