In back-and-forth 1st game down south, Lady Lions run out of time in battle with Virginia’s Lake Braddock, succumb to 1st defeat of young campaign in 4-3 decision

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC — The getaway down south for the Wellsville Lady Lions has officially begun, as they took the weekend to settle down in North Myrtle Beach, where they will bask in every bit of South Carolina sunshine alongside three straight days of competitive softball.

Monday served as day one, where they carried forth a red hot 5-0 start to their campaign and battled the Lake Braddock Lady Bruins hailing from Virginia. The task at hand against a complete unknown can come with its own set of challenges, especially in a tight quarters battle where responses served as the x-factor.

Following two scoreless innings to start the contest, the bats came to life, as the two foes congealed together seven straight runs across the next set of frames to ignite the fuse. For Lake Braddock, a big time response in the top of the fourth, along with the evasion of Wellsville’s potentially game-altering response soon after, wound up making the difference in the end, as the Lady Bruins handed the Lady Lions their first loss of the campaign with the capture of a 4-3 edge.

“I am proud of our girls for not giving up today. We were down all game, and we just kept hitting the ball as much as we could. We had runners on and we had our chances towards the end, but unfortunately, we ran out of time in the fifth inning.” said Lady Lions coach Gia George.

After both pitchers for their respective teams delivered back-to-back scoreless frames to kick off the contest, the runs came right behind it in the top of the third with Lake Braddock breaking the ice on the game’s first run. In the bottom half, the Lady Lions (5-1) came right back with a game-tying reponse off the bat of Makenna Dunbar, who blasted an RBI double — one of her two hits in the contest, to draw even.

In the fourth inning, five combined runs would then come across between the two foes, with Lake Braddock unleashing a trio of runs to create a 4-1 lead that ultimately remained intact down the stretch. Despite the deficit, Wellsville fired back one final shot with a two-run single from Ayla Faulkner in the bottom of the fourth to reduce the deficit to a single run.

But the Lady Lions would ultimately run out of time, as the Lady Bruins held on to score the win.

Wellsville compiled three runs off eight hits at the plate, with Averee Palmatier chipping in two hits and scoring a run in addition to Dunbar and Faulkner.

In the circle, Brynn Hallock went into the fourth inning with her start for the Lady Lions, fanning six and walking one. Dunbar was called upon for relief in the remaining two innings, as she added four more strikeouts into the mix.

Wellsville is back up and early this morning, as they now get set to face North Lincoln of North Carolina in a 10 a.m. first pitch.

Lake Braddock 001 30 – 4 3 2

Wellsville 001 20 – 3 8 4

LB – Mac Verdejo (WP) (CG, 6K, 2BB) and Addison Forde.

WLSV – Brynn Hallock (LP) (6K, BB), Makenna Dunbar (4) (4K) and Lindsay Stuck.