By John Henson
Sports Writer
Coach Robert Daniels said in the preseason that this year’s Pineville Mountain Lions could be the best in school history.
They took a big step in making that prediction come true with a 5-1 win Thursday over Knox Central in the 51st District Tournament finals. The Lady Lions improved to 18-6 with the win and are the third-ranked team in the 13th Region, according to the RPI ratings.
“I’ve been in Pineville my whole life, and I think it may be,” Daniels said in the preseason. “They are hungry. We lost some tough one-run games last year, and our girls went right to work when it was over.”
Junior left-hander Rachel Howard extended her string of dominating performances as she gave up one unearned run on one hit with 14 strikeouts and two walks.
Howard also led Pineville on offense with three hits and four RBI. Rayanna Maidon also had three hits. Jaycee Caldwell, Addison Slone, Kameran Evans and Baleigh Bargo-Vaughn added one hit each.
“I’m proud of my girls. They never had any pressure on them. They knew they were supposed to win the district, and that’s what they did,” Daniels said.
Pineville will play Harlan County on Monday in the first round of the 13th Region Tournament at Corbin.
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The Pineville Lady Lions were limited to only three hits Monday in the opening round of the 51st District Tournament, but it didn’t matter with Howard in the circle.
Howard struck out 18, walked none and gave up only two hits as the Lady Lions advanced with a 6-0 win over Lynn Camp.
Howard also drove in five runs on a pair of singles. Monica Whitehead had the other Pineville hit.