On a night filled with emotion, the Christian County Lady Colonels headed off into the postseason on a positive note. The Lady Colonels used a three-run fourth inning to springboard past Union County 6-3 for their 23rd win of the season.
Originally, the Lady Colonels had been set to close out the regular season with a Thursday night game against Livingston Central. Just before the game, the players were told that would not happen and that the regular season would end with the Union County game.
So emotions were on edge throughout the senior night recognition, and the game and those emotions overflowed with the final out of the contest as seniors Pickle Winkler, Riley Hancock, and Chloe Craft were hit with the realization that the postseason was all they had left in their high school careers.
As for the game, after falling behind 1-0 early, the Lady Colonels scored five unanswered runs to take a 5-1 lead over the Bravettes. The lead was 6-2 going into the top of the seventh when Union County made things a bit more interesting.
The Bravettes would load the bases with one out bringing the tying run to the plate. After a sac fly scored a run to make it 6-3, freshman Sydney Thomas came to the plate. Thomas had hit a rocket out of the park earlier in the game. This time, however, Riley Hancock got her to ground out to second to end the game.
Pickle Winkler had a big night for the Lady Colonels, going 3-4 with 2 RBIs. Kaleigh Shaw was 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Five other Lady Colonels had a hit in the game.
Riley Hancock went the distance in the circle, giving up three runs, two of them earned, on seven hits, striking out seven while walking only one.
Christian County goes to 23-9 on the year. They will open district tournament play Monday night against Fort Campbell.
