Published: May 07, 2008 10:55 am         

Lady Jaguars continue impressive play

North Laurel wins Lowe's Classic

Despite Mother Nature not being totally cooperative, the Lowe’s Classic was played over the weekend, with the North Laurel Lady Jaguars claiming the title with a 10-0 win over St. Benedict (Tennessee) in a game that didn’t end until early Sunday morning.

“This was a long and tiring weekend in dealing with the weather,” Coach Shane Weaver said. “Our parents did a great, great job in getting the fields ready to play and the teams were wanting to stay and play, so we pulled it off. I personally, as well as the girls, would like to thank Lowe’s Sporting Goods for what they did this weekend and have done with the Lowe’s Classic over the years. Again this weekend, the London-Laurel Tourist Commission worked with our program to help make it possible to attract 11 teams and pull off a 12-team tournament. In addition, we appreciate the North Laurel Little League and John Allen for allowing us to use their field Friday night.”

North Laurel 3, Lakota West 1

North Laurel started its march to the title by beating Lakota West (Ohio) 3-1 Friday night in pool play. Abby Sears got the win, going 4 2/3 innings, allowing no runs on one hit while striking out 10. Carrie Cobb relieved her, and 1 1/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit.

Lakota West took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but North answered in the home half of the inning as Sears doubled and Kelsi Smith was brought in to run for her. Smith scored on a single by Rachel Akins.

The score remained 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth when the Lady Jaguars scored twice for the 3-1 win. Smith led off the inning with a single to left and scored on a triple by Sears. Haley Herrell came in to run for Sears, and she scored on a ground out by Gloriann Cordero.

North Laurel 8, Meade Co. 0

In the second pool play game on Friday night, the Lady Jags had no trouble disposing of Meade Co., 8-0.

North struck for five runs in the top of the second, then added three more in the sixth for the win. Cobb got the win, striking out six and allowing one hit in three innings of work. Megan Taylor pitched the final three innings, striking out eight.

In the second, Haley Hensley led off with a single and was moved to second on a bunt by Courtney Brock. A Smith single moved Hensley to third, and she scored on a single by Sears. Megan Taylor followed with an RBI single of her own, driving in Smith. Akins then smacked her sixth home run of the year over the right centerfield fence to give the Lady Jaguars a 5-0 lead.

In the sixth Smith doubled and scored on a single by Brooklyn Pennington. Consecutive singles from Sears, Taylor and Akins scored two more runs to make the final 8-0.

North Laurel 4, Meade Co. 2 (semi-finals)

The Lady Jaguars met up with Meade Co. again in the semi-finals, as Meade upset Louisville Male and No. 8 Christian Co. to set-up the rematch.

This time, the Lady Waves made the game much closer, but a 16 strikeout performance from Sears proved big.

North Laurel took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third as Megan Taylor singled with two outs and was driven in on a single by Kensey Woods. Meade Co. tied the game in the bottom of the inning, and it stayed that way until the top of the fifth, when the Lady Jaguars scored twice for a 3-1 lead.

Logan Taylor doubled with one out, and Sears was intentionally walked. Megan Taylor then walked to load the bases for Akins, who continued swinging a hot bat with a two-run single up the middle.

In the top of the sixth, Hensley singled, stole second and scored on a Brock single for a 4-1 lead. Meade Co. got one run back in the bottom of the inning, but North held on for the win.

North Laurel 10, St. Benedict (Tn.) 0 (Championship game)

After a two-hour break to wait on the top bracket games, the Lady Jaguars didn’t let the chill of the night bother them as they scored five runs in the top of the first and rolled to a 10-0 win. Sears was the winning pitcher for North Laurel.

Megan Taylor singled, then Akins sent a towering shot over left field for her seventh homer of the season and a 2-0 lead. Woods then singled to center, followed by a single from Ashley Wampler.

Hensley then grounded back to the pitcher, who threw to home to get Woods. Brock kept the inning alive with a bunt single and scampered to third when the throw went into right field. Wampler and Hensley both scored on the play to make it 4-0. Brock then scored on a wild pitch for a 5-0 lead.

The Lady Jags added three more runs in the third and two in the fourth for the 10-0 win. Woods, Wampler and Hensley all scored in the third, while in the fourth, Sears and Akins scored on a single by Wampler.

Akins was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after posting a .545 battling average for the weekend with two home runs and nine RBIs. Sears was named the Most Valuable Pitcher after picking up three wins, striking out 30 in 14 2/3 innings of work.

“I started preaching consistency at the beginning of the season, and the girls are doing a good job of maintaining that focus right now,” Weaver said. “We are getting production from everyone in the order and at different times, which is great. We did a good job of hitting good pitching this weekend, and our pitchers were on fire as we struck out 49 while only walking six in 24 innings.”

North Laurel hosted Madison Southern yesterday, and will travel to Ryle on Thursday.