Some defeats in high school softball hurt more than others.
Central lost a heartbreaking 1-0 game to Red Bank in the first game of the District 6-AA tournament two Saturdays ago and that one really stung, but the Lady Pounders came storming back to win the tournament with total offensive explosion.
The good news is they had a chance to redeem themselves for their shortcomings 12 days ago.
They won't get that chance following Thursday evening's 1-0 loss to Livingston Academy in the Class AA sectional round.
Central junior Brooke Parrott was the losing pitcher in both of those games, but she certainly deserved better after allowing three hits in that first game and only four on Thursday.
Unfortunately, it's hard to win when your team doesn't score any runs and that was again the case in the game that ended Central's season at 21-18.
The Lady Pounders were limited to just two hits, including a single by Reagan Benedict to lead off the second and a leadoff single by Lexie Ainslie to lead off the fifth.
Parrott reached on an error to lead off the fourth and Ainslie did the same in the seventh, but other than a two-out walk to Tatum Morgan in the fifth, those were the only baserunners for Central.
Parrott retired the first 13 hitters in order before Ashton Hicks stroked an opposite-field double into the corner in right. Winning pitcher Sidney Pennycuff walked to put two Lady Cats on base with one out in the fifth, but Parrott then recorded two of her 11 strikeouts to escape that jam.
She wasn't so lucky two innings later.
The game was still scoreless, but Hicks was the culprit again as she hit another ball into almost exactly the same spot, which resulted in a leadoff triple. Pennycuff helped her own cause with a sharp single to right on a 1-2 count for the only run of the game.
Ainslie reached on a one-out error, but was left at first when Pennycuff retired the next two hitters to end the game.
Needless to say, Livingston Academy coach Kacy Bennett was all but speechless following the win, which improved her team to 23-10 and their first berth ever in the state softball tournament.
"I don't even know what to say," she began before gathering with her team for post-game pictures.
"I knew it would be close, but I just told my girls we only had to get one run. I knew Central would be tough because I used to play softball with their coach in college and I know what kind of teams she puts on the field.
"Sidney was just amazing as she always seems to find a way to get the job done. But this is a huge deal for this team and our school as I don't think we've ever been to the state softball tournament before. We're a basketball school, but this is a special group and they're starting to believe it," Bennett added.
Central coach Lee Anne Shurette pointed to one single factor that ultimately cost her team a trip to Murfreesboro next week.
"We just weren't disciplined at the plate as we didn't make any adjustments. Brooke pitched well enough to win, but we didn't do anything to help her. We should have capitalized in a couple of innings, but I guess we were just too anxious and may have been trying too hard.
"It certainly wasn't from a lack of effort. Our goal was to win our last game and we're way better than we showed today. We had the hitters, the pitching and the defense to do it, but we just didn't make the necessary adjustments. That's just the game of softball," she concluded.
Hicks was the only player with two hits for either team.
While Parrott allowed one run on four hits, she struck out 11 and walked just one. Pennycuff was equally as good by allowing no runs on two hits while striking out nine and walking one.
LIVINGSTON ACADEMY 000 000 1 -- 1 4 2
CENTRAL 000 000 0 -- 0 2 0
Pennycuff and Wilson; Parrott and Benedict.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)