Softball Recap: Pineville Triumphs

Pineville proved they can win big on Thursday (they won by ten) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-1 win over the Barbourville Tigers. That's the second time they've managed to beat them this season, as they also won 10-4 two weeks ago.

Rachel Howard

Batters Struck Out

04/24/26 vs Barbourville	18
04/20/26 @ Southwestern	9
04/13/26 vs Barbourville	18
04/11/26 vs Lynn Camp	14
03/31/26 vs Clay County	18
+ 6 more games

Rachel Howard spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on three hits and racked up 18 Ks. She has been consistent for a while: she hasn't tossed less than nine strikeouts in 11 consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Pineville's victory was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Malley Smith, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Monica Whitehead also deserves some recognition as she hit her first triple of the season.

Pineville was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Barbourville only posted a batting average of .120.

Pineville's win bumped their record up to 10-6. As for Barbourville, their defeat was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 1-15.

Pineville has already played their next game (against Leslie County), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. As for Barbourville, they will head out to face off against Middlesboro at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. The Yellowjackets have struggled to contain batters this season (they've allowed 9.39 runs per game on average), something the Tigers will no doubt try to take advantage of.