Thursday After noon saw a perfect day for the Gilmer Lady Cats to welcome the Lady Bruins of Northwest Whitfield to their home field.  This game being a region match, it was very important for Coach Kim Charles and the Lady Cats to come out with a win at the end of the day.

With Jaylin Vick in the circle, Gilmer shut down Northwest Whitfield in the top of the first allowing no runs.  With the Lady Cats coming to the plate in the bottom of the first no time was wasted in getting base runners and putting a run across the plate.  Jayd Hamby led off with a single passed 3rd base.  Jasmine Staley stepped to the plate determined to get things started right and get Gilmer the lead.  That she did as she ripped a single scoring Hamby to give the Lady Cats a 1-0 lead.  The Lady Cats would have several opportunities to put runs on the board with to no avail.  In the seven inning game Gilmer had 14 hits, 7 strikeouts and 1 walk.

The Gilmer defense held the Lady Bruins scoreless through 6 innings with Vick allowing 11 hits on the day.  When the seventh inning started, the Lady Cats confidence in getting the victory was high as they had pretty much shut down their opponent all game.  Unfortunately for Gilmer, Northwest Whitfield found their second wind and turned up the heat on the Lady Cats.

Without any warning the wheels fell off for the home team.  Northwest Whitfield scored six runs on a combination of well placed hits and a 4 Lady Cat miscues.  In the home half of the seventh inning the Lady Cats made a surge to tie the game and possibly have some last chance heroics.  Hamby led off with a hard single and was thrown out attempting to swipe 2nd.  Mallory Kiser with a single advanced Jasmine Staley to second after her fourth hit on the day.  With one out and 2 runners on base up came Hannah Bennett to the plate.  Bennett hit a rise ball down the right field line that found the woods behind the fence.  The three run home run brought the score to 6-4 with no one out.  The next two batters would ground out and strike out to end the game leaving the score at 6-4 and a loss for the Lady Cats of Gilmer.

Stand outs for the Lady Cats at the plate were Jasmine Staley(4-4), Jayd Hamby(3-4) and Mallory Kiser(2-4).Next up for Gilmer Varsity Softball will be at Pickens on Tuesday starting at 5:55 pm.