Panthers drop back-to-back to Burlington

MT. PLEASANT — Mt. Pleasant softball wrapped up its season series against Burlington on Monday night in yet another Southeast Conference doubleheader.

The Panthers were swept by the Grayhound on the night, 7-1 and 8-5.

Burlington has been one of the top teams in the conference all season long, but Mt. Pleasant has given them all they’ve got each and every time.

This time around it was no different, even with the Panthers dropping two on the night.

Ella McNamee and Myah Starr did a phenomenal job in the circle giving up seven runs on just six hits, five walks and one strikeout.

Mt. Pleasant hung right in there as there wasn’t a run scored for two innings, up until the third.

Burlington started to find the ball at the plate and a scoreless contest turned into a 7-1 ballgame in a matter of three innings. The Grayhounds scored a pair in the third, three in the fourth and two in the fifth.

The Panther’s Addison Clark tallied Mt. Pleasant’s lone RBI on the day in the fifth, bringing Saige Burchett across home plate.

Mt. Pleasant did well to hold Burlington scoreless for the next two innings, but the Panthers couldn’t find an answer inside the box as the Grayhound took game one.

Heading into game two, the Panthers did not waver from the opening loss.

Following a scoreless first inning, it was Mt. Pleasant who struck first. The Panthers took an early 1-0 lead with a single run in the second inning.

Burlington tied it in the top of third, but the Panthers added two more to their total in the bottom of the inning. Emma Starr laid down a sac bunt which scored Jayden Housh and Jersey Beachy connected for an RBI single to score Ella McNamee making it 3-1.

“We had good timely hitting in the second game,” Mt. Pleasant head coach Michael Beason said.

Despite the scoring throughout the first three innings, the Panthers couldn’t find a run for the next three innings and an inning later the Grayhounds took the lead 4-3.

Both went scoreless in the fifth and Burlington added two runs each in the sixth and seventh to take a commanding 8-3 lead.

The Panthers found a little spark with the bats late, scoring two in the bottom half of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to get back on top.

Starr, Beachy, McNamee and Jayden Housh all finished with two hits in the loss. Starr finished with a pair of RBIs also. Burchett and Savana Walls each had a single hit. McNamee and Bethany Drury each had one RBI.

Tyi Alter and Myah Starr together allowed eight runs on seven hits, eight walks and three strikeouts.

Beason said he’s proud of his teams effort all together.

“Our pitchers worked hard and pitched well overall,” Beason said. “I’m proud of our players effort, attitude and the grit their showing.”