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The George Rogers Clark Lady Cardinals headed out to somewhat unfamiliar territory last week as they played in the Lyndel Potter Memorial Softball Tournament in Pikeville. 

They came home with something valuable. 

Scoring an astounding 57 runs in four games, GRC (17-5) won just as many games en route to being declared champions of the Lyndel Potter Memorial Softball Tournament. 

“We saw that tournament. We knew…the tradition of the tournament, so that’s the reason we wanted to head down there and try to compete and get some teams in eastern Kentucky that we knew could play a little bit,” said GRC Head Coach Matt Puckett. “We took the trip and it ended up being a good trip for us.” 

The Lady Cards’ first matchup was against Pike County Central, who entered the contest with a winning record of 13-8. 

However, GRC’s offense put the Hawks in a poor position. 

During a game that ended after just four innings, GRC outscored the Hawks 23-5 thanks to three-hit games from senior Aniya McIntyre and 8th graders Zyniia Tichenor and Jayda Grigsby, plus four-RBI games by senior Addison Wilson and sophomore Jordyn Abner. 

Junior Kennedy Jones also went deep for a home run. 

In their next two games, the Lady Cards played Tug Valley High School of Williamson, West Virginia. 

The Lady Cards’ first game against the Lady Panthers saw them come away with a resounding 10-1 win. 

However, the second game appeared insurmountable when GRC fell behind early by a 9-0 score. 

“Most teams at that time will lay down and think…’we’re done’,” acknowledged Puckett. 

However, in a season that has seen the Lady Cards more than double their win total from the previous year, quitting was not an option. 

“We tried to start winning innings at that time,” he said. “There was just no quit.” 

Ultimately, thanks in large part to a three-RBI performance from Abner and a four-RBI performance by fellow sophomore Bella Guinn, GRC pulled off an epic comeback to win 11-8 and advance to the championship game against host Pikeville (9-13). 

With Grigsby throwing a complete game and delivering a pair of hits plus an RBI, in addition to two-RBI performances from Guinn, Wilson, McIntyre, and a three-RBI performance by senior Amyah Maxwell that included a home run of her own, the Lady Cards prevailed 11-8 and took home the championship. 

Coach Puckett spoke of the 57 runs scored over four games. 

“It’s a great number to put up,” he said. “We didn’t see that going in truthfully.” 

With two weeks left in the regular season, which ends with a home matchup against Garrard County on Friday, May 16, Puckett expressed signs of enthusiasm. 

“The confidence is what we’re trying to build to prepare for [the] postseason,” he said. “We haven’t played our best ball yet, so we’re just hoping to get better each day.”