Somerset — The Somerset Lady Briar Jumpers did exactly what their head coach wanted them to do.

They came out in Friday night’s opening games of the Second Annual Keith Blair Memorial Softball Tournament and took care of business on their home field.

David Dorsey’s club won both games on Friday night to kick off the tournament, ending the evening with an 11-4 victory over the Powell County Lady Pirates.

Lauren Rice went the distance against Powell County, pitching all five innings in nailing down the victory for the Lady Jumpers.

And, although Somerset was guilty of five errors in the contest, it was a win nonetheless, improving Dorsey’s club to 10-3 on the year.

“I thought we got a little lackadaisical between games, because we were laughing and cutting up a little too much, and we didn’t really get serious with this game,” pointed out the Lady Jumper coach.

“We did get some walks and scored some runs in the first two innings, but then we didn’t do really anything until about the fifth inning,” Dorsey added. “Emily Ousley hit the ball well, Jessica Coffey hit the ball well, and Elizabeth Ousley hit it well also. And, I thought Lauren (Rice) pitched a very nice ballgame in picking up the win.”

Indeed it was Emily Ousley and Jessica Coffey who were the catalysts in the win over Powell County for the Lady Jumpers.

Lady Pirate pitcher Meghan Mays had all kinds of control problems early on, as she walked five Somerset hitters over the first two innings, and the Lady Jumpers made her pay for that generosity.

And, it all began with Somerset’s leadoff hitter, Emily Ousley.

Ousley got the top of the first inning kick-started for Somerset by working Mays for a leadoff walk, and she would later come home with the first run of the night for the Lady Jumpers, thanks to an RBI single off the bat of Coffey.

Bethany Edwards singled in another run, while Kirstchen Roberts walked with the bases loaded to drive in another.

Emily Ousley then came back to the plate, as Somerset batted around, and drove in two more runs with a single, giving Somerset a 6-0 advantage before Powell County had ever picked up a bat.

Somerset padded that lead to 7-0 in the top of the third, when Emily Ousley tripled with two out, and came home on a wild pitch from Mays.

In the top of the fourth, it was Coffey taking Mays deep over the center field fence for a solo blast, extending the Lady Jumpers lead to a very comfortable 8-0, giving this one the appearance of an absolute laugher

In the bottom half of the fourth inning, Powell County attempted to get off the mat, by scoring four runs off of Rice, however the young hurler was hardly to blame, as Somerset was guilty of four costly errors in the frame.

“They had a couple of hard hit balls in that inning, but other than that, we were simply guilty of making some errors, that gave them their runs in that at bat,” Dorsey stated.

After watching their lead whittled in half, Somerset came right back in the top of the fifth inning to seal this one, by tacking on three insurance runs off of Mays.

Coffey doubled in one run, while center fielder Bethany Edwards doubled in two more runs, giving the Lady Jumpers the 11-4 victory.

Somerset kicked off the tournament earlier in the evening, by getting past Mercer County in a great pitcher’s duel, by a final tally of 2-1.

The Lady Jumpers’ Paige Gadberry picked up the win, by throwing six innings against the Titans, allowing Mercer County only two hits along the way while fanning two hitters.

Somerset once again lost the coin flip before the game, and had to hit first, which was OK, because Dorsey and crew grabbed a quick, 1-0 advantage in this contest.

Emily Ousley singled to begin the game, stole second base, and came home thanks to an RBI hit by Coffey.

After Mercer County knotted things up at 1-1 in the second inning, thanks to two Somerset errors, the Lady Jumpers came back and won it with a lone run in the top of the fifth frame.

This time it was Elizabeth Ousley that got the rally going for Somerset with a leadoff single.

Gadberry bunted her over to second base, and she would come home thanks to an RBI single by Emily Ousley.

“It seems like our last three or four games have been 2 to 1 or 3 to 2, and we’re getting accustomed to playing close games like that,” stated Dorsey after his club’s win over Mercer County.

“If we can simply catch the ball on defense, I feel like we can play with about any team that is on our schedule,” Dorsey said. “We’ll score enough runs I think to be in every game. The key for our team is that we have to pitch it well and catch it well to be able to compete.”

Somerset continued play in the Keith Blair Memorial Tournament Saturday morning, dropping a tough one to the Barren County Lady Trojans by a final count of 3-1.

This one was another great pitcher’s duel, as both teams were held scoreless through the first four innings of play.

Somerset took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth, when Elizabeth Ousley reached on a two-base hit.

Ousley later scored the first run of the contest when Kristen Floyd laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to drive her in, giving Dorsey’s club a 1-0 lead.

According to the SHS skipper, his club could have scored a lot more in this one, but Barren County made play after play in the field, on a day when according to Dorsey, you just had to tip your hat to the other team.

“Barren County might very well be the best defensive club I’ve seen all year,” pointed out the Lady Jumper coach.

“We had first and second on in one inning with no outs, and a ball was hit to their third baseman and she stepped on the bag for one out, and threw over to first base for the second out,” Dorsey remarked. “It’s fun to watch as a coach, because those are the things you practice and try to teach every day. Not to get basehits, we hit the ball today about as well as we can hit it. We hit five or six line drives today to shortstop, second base, left field, right field, and center field, and they just made that superstar catch time after time.”

Barren County, after falling behind the Lady Jumpers 1-0, came back to tie this one up in the bottom of the fifth, and then won it, by scoring two runs in the home half of the sixth inning.

“Through the first five innings, we played about as well defensively as we have played all year long,” said Dorsey. “We had two misplayed balls in the bottom of the sixth, and they ended up getting two runs to win it.”

Somerset with the loss fell to 10-4 on the season, but the most important game of the year for the Lady Jumpers according to their head coach comes on Tuesday night, when Dorsey and crew will host arch-rival Pulaski County in the district opener for both clubs.

“We’re 10-4 right now and we’re very excited about that,” stated Dorsey. “Pulaski is our first district game of the year next Tuesday night, and it’s at home. As far as the importance of that game, we’re looking at it as if it’s the most important game of the year, because it’s our first district game of the season.”

The PC—Somerset game will get underway Tuesday night beginning at 6 p.m.



SHS 6 0 1 1 3 — 11 11 4

PC 0 0 0 4 0 — 4 5 1



DOUBLES—(SHS) Coffey, Edwards.

TRIPLES— (SHS) Emily Ousley.

HOMERUNS—(SHS) Coffey.

RBI’s—(SHS) Coffey 3, Emily Ousley 2, Edwards 2, Roberts, Floyd, Ford. (PC) Boswell, S. Mays, Crabtree.

WP—Rice

LP—M. Mays