Starting pitcher Emilee Iverson nearly threw a no-hitter, not allowing a base hit until the final inning.

“She pitched really, really well,” Collins said. “She kept the ball down and we had more consistency on defense.”

Offensively the Lady Red were led by Kaitlynn Smith, who had two of Grove’s eight hits. The Lady Red were also helped by two unearned runs allowed by the Lady Hornet defense.

“We hit the ball harder than we have been,” Collins said. “We put the ball in play on a more consistent basis.”

Pryor 4, Grove 2 (Monday)

One pitch ended up making all the difference during the Grove Lady Ridgerunners’ 4-2 home loss to Pryor on Monday.

A double down the right field line with two outs and the bases loaded scored three runs for the Tigerettes in the top of the fifth, giving them a 4-0 lead at the time.

Grove would score two in the top of the sixth, but it wasn’t enough to avoid their ninth straight loss to start the season.

“I’ll take that [effort],” head coach Jeremy Collins said. “We’re a lot closer. We’re pitching well and our defense, even though we made some errors, was solid. We got some lead runners and cut down some runners and turned a double play.”

Pryor (4-4, 2-1 in District 5A-3) used a single, a walk and an error to load the bases in the top of the inning. A second walk forced in a run before starting pitcher Emilee Iverson was able to get out of the inning with a strikeout and a groundout.

The Lady Red mustered just one baserunner through the first two innings when Ciera Christy doubled down the left field line in the second, but a walk issued to Gabi Fields and a single by Paige Miller put two on with one out in the bottom of the third. Two batters later, Taylor Rupe singled to centerfield, but Fields was thrown at home trying to score from second, ending the inning.

Grove’s sixth inning rally would end on the base paths as well. Kaitlynn Smith led off the inning with a double off the left field wall. Rupe was hit by a pitch and Libby Morris followed with a single that scored Smith. But Rupe and Morris were caught in an extended rundown that ended with Rupe being thrown out at home. Morris would later steal home for what ended up being Grove’s final run of the game.

“I probably got Gabi out being too aggressive there,” Collins said. “We test that girl’s arm out and it didn’t work but we’ve got to take that chance because we’re not getting many opportunities to score. Same thing with the run down [in the sixth]. I though Taylor and Libby did a good just there; they just made a good play.”

Each team got three hits in a game that finished in less than an hour and a half.