The Pineville Lady Lions looked to have the perfect scenario for a trip to the 13th Region Tournament.

They went unbeaten in district play during the regular season. They were the number one seed for the 51st District Tournament. And they were playing at home.

But it was not meant to be as the Lady Panthers from Knox Central dealt Pineville a 14-9 loss in the district semifinals.

“Everything was laid out for us this year, but we just didn't dot our ‘i's and cross our ‘t's,” coach Rheagan Redmond said. Knox Central played a great game, but we just couldn't get it together.”

The Lady Lions fell behind early, but rallied several times to either tie the game or take the lead.

But Knox Central took advantage of a string of errors in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach.

“It seemed like we were fighting back the whole time, then we had one really bad inning,” Redmond said. “We made error after error after error. I think we just ran out of gas at the end.”

The loss brings a disappointing end to a successful season for Pineville, their first in the realigned 51st District.

They went 6-0 against district foes in the regular season and finish the year with a 10-5 record.

“I'm proud of the girls and of the season we had,” Redmond said. “I'm really going to miss this group of seniors.”

It was the final game for five Lady Lion seniors. Stephanie Smith (who will be Pineville's representative on the all-tournament team), Melodye Smith, Chasity Fuston, Becca Woolum, and Brandie Daniel.

“We set a goal to win the district and we fell short,” Redmond added. “But we've got a good nucleus coming back and we know we'll have to work harder next season.”

(Staff report)