Jud Thigpen loved his team’s effort but not the end result.
Pillow Academy lost 4-3 to Carroll Academy in the fastpitch softball opener for both teams Friday in Carrollton.
“Our girls played their tails off in a fun environment. They played hard but had a couple of miscues,” said the first-year PA softball coach.
Carroll scored two runs in the fifth to break up a 2-2 tie. The Lady Mustangs scored once in the top of the seventh but were unable to tie it back up.
Madeline Mattox had an RBI hit to pull the Lady Mustangs within one, but CA starting pitcher Sandy Rhea Tackett ended the game with strikeout.
Pillow jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but CA pushed across two runs in the third on a two-run triple by Sydney Claire Liddell, plating Madison Shelton and Megan Shelton.
Madison Shelton and Liddell teamed up for five hits and three RBIs to help spark the win for the Lady Rebels.
For PA, Maklane Scates went 3-for-4, including a double, and scored one run.
Anna Taylor Hudson and Sara Beth Steen had three hits also. Mary Morgan Plunkett and Madison Jefcoat each had a triple.
Mari Wilson Spruil took the loss in the circle for Pillow as she allowed four runs on nine hits in a complete game while striking out five and walking just one.
“She pitched quite well, especially for an eighth-grader in such a big game,” Thigpen said of Spruil.
Tackett also had a complete game for the Lady Rebels. She fanned five and walked one.
