Lady Panthers back over .500 in SCA Conference

The Mountain Grove Lady Panthers’ softball team is back over the .500 mark in the South Central Association (SCA) Conference after outscoring a pair of teams last week by a 25-8 margin for two victories.
Their first win came against a now 10-5 Ava squad on the road as the Lady Panthers scored 10 runs in the top of the fifth inning to rally for a 13-8 victory.
Peyton O’Connor had four RBIs and one run scored; Aubrey Owens had one RBI and scored four times; Gabby Miller, Chloe Slagle, Lyla Golden and Hannah Dowden had one RBI and scored one run; Leah Broome scored twice; while Briley Curtiss and Aubrie Gerla each scored one run.
Dowden tossed seven innings and gave up six earned runs on 15 hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
Three days later, the Lady Panthers’ 14-hit attack lifted Mountain Grove past the Cabool Lady Bulldogs, 12-0.
Curtiss had two RBIs and two runs scored; Slagle had one RBI and scored three times; Miller and Dowden had one RBI and scored twice; Lily Williams and Gerla had one RBI and one run scored; while O’Connor and Broome both had one RBI.
Dowden tossed five shutout innings for the Lady Panthers and gave up one hit with nine strikeouts and one walk.
In between those big wins, Plato avenged a recent loss to the Lady Panthers with a 5-2 win.
Gerla had one RBI while both O’Connor and Curtiss scored one run.
Dowden tossed six innings and gave up one earned run on five hits with six strikeouts and three walks.