Lady Jackets earn sixth straight win with historic road victory over Montgomery

Trina Hughes signals to teammate Dani Johnson as she prepares to cross home plate after recording her second home run of the season. Photo by Brad Laux/1016sports.

Entering Tuesday’s softball game in Mt. Sterling, Nicholas County had defeated Montgomery County just once in the last 14 years.

That one time was in the first round of the 2012 regionals. The Lady Jackets went on to win that tournament, the first and only region title in school history.

Behind a solid pitching performance from senior Jonna Watkins and offensive contributions scattered throughout the lineup, Nicholas County (9-6) improved that mark to two wins over the Lady Indians, as the Lady Jackets came away with a 10-6 road victory on Tuesday.

“We did spread out the hits. We got on (base) and hit the ball really solid tonight, hit it hard. We were able to hit a few gapers,” NCHS coach Mike Johnson said. “Defensively, we made a couple of errors. We’ve got some seventh-graders, some eighth-graders and freshmen in our lineup. We’re a young team, so they are going to make some mistakes. Overall, they fought through it, never quit, never gave up. That’s what we preach to them. Just keep fighting. I thought they did a good job tonight.”

Tuesday’s victory was significant on many levels. Not only was it the Lady Jackets’ second in their last 18 meetings against Montgomery County, but also their sixth consecutive win this season, the longest stretch since they posted eight straight in the middle of April 2013.

Nicholas County opened the game by scoring a run in the top of the first inning, but the Lady Indians answered with three in the bottom of the second to pull ahead.

The visitors tacked on two more runs in the top of the third to knot the game at 3-3, but really came up big by scoring seven times in the final three innings to secure the victory.

“It was a good win. Montgomery County is a good softball team. They’re going to be a good team this year and they’re going to beat a lot of people, so we’re really happy to get out of here with a W(in),” Johnson said.

The game was a last-minute addition for Johnson’s club, which placed Montgomery on the schedule a day after Burgin canceled.

“We didn’t have any scouting report whatsoever on Montgomery, so we didn’t know how they were going to hit or what they liked,” he added. “So we tried to make some in-game adjustments, according to what the hitters were swinging like or what they were chasing or not chasing.”

The lack advance knowledge of the Lady Indians’ tendencies made the win that much more impressive.

Six different Lady Jackets recorded hits, with four of the team’s 10 total coming from the bottom two spots in the lineup.

“We really came together as a team,” senior catcher Dani Johnson said. “Our defense was solid. We had just one or two errors and we hit the ball. So, we all just came together and it was a good team win.”

Nicholas County put its first three runners on base in the top of the fifth inning, with Watkins eventually scoring on a wild pitch. Dani Johnson’s single up the middle drove in Trina Hughes to extend the Lady Jackets’ advantage to 5-3. Two batters’ later, Abby Derossett dropped a single just inside the right-field line that sent Johnson home.

“We just got used to the pitcher and knew where she was going to throw it and when she was going to throw (certain pitches),” the younger Johnson said. “We just decided, ‘Hey, let’s just work with what we’ve got and hit it,’ and that’s what we did.”

Montgomery County (3-7) changed pitchers later in the fifth, but the damage was done.

The visitors added two more runs in the top of the sixth after taking advantage of a walk and a pair of Lady Indian errors.

In the top of the seventh, Hughes smacked a two-out, line-drive shot over the wall in center field, which also scored Morgan Watkins, to add insurance runs for the Lady Jackets. It was her second home run of the season.

Montgomery County rallied by notching a pair of extra base hits in the bottom of the seventh that led to two more runs, before a base-running mistake ended the game.

Coach Johnson credited the team’s pitching and defense as keys to the victory.

“Jonna Watkins pitched a good game. Most of the time she hit her spots where we told her to throw it,” he said. “Jonna did a good job of hitting spots and our defense came up and made a couple good plays.”

Watkins lodged seven innings inside the circle, allowing six hits and just two walks, while striking out six. Montgomery County starter Caroline Donithan suffered the loss. She pitched four and a third innings, giving up six earned runs on six hits. She also walked five and struck out five. Cameron Reddix worked the final two and two-thirds innings and surrendered four runs on four hits, while walking one and striking out three.

Sydni Gifford paced the Lady Jackets at the plate. The eighth-grader was 3-for-3 and drew a walk. Hughes finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and three runs. Dani Johnson contributed two hits and three RBI, scoring once. Jonna Watkins was 1-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored. Derossett and Morgan Watkins each added a hit, while Taylor Hunt contributed two runs.

Macy McCoy led Montgomery County with three hits and two RBI. Hailey Willoughby added two hits, two runs and an RBI.

Nicholas County center fielder Taylor Hunt positions herself to catch a fly ball during Tuesday's softball game against Montgomery County. The Lady Jackets went on to win 10-6. Photo by Brad Laux/1016sports.