The Bowie Lady Rabbits tested themselves on Monday, not just against old district foe Paradise at their field, but against the cold, windy elements.
Knowing they would face tough pitching, a lone home run was the only source of offense for Bowie as the Lady Cats won 6-1.
Things looked grim early on. Besides reaching base on an error, the Lady Rabbits struck out three times in the top of the first inning.
The leadoff for Paradise then hit a solo home run to give the Lady Cats an early 1-0 lead and a lot of momentum.
Luckily, pitcher Alexa Holzer was able to retire the next three batters with no base runners allowed.
Gracie Bentley doubled with two outs to vive Bowie its first runner in scoring position. Unfortunately, the next batter struck out to end the chance for the Lady Rabbits.
On defense, Bowie hit back-to-back batters with two outs to give Paradise a chance to score, but after a dropped third strike the Lady Rabbits were able to throw the batter out at first to end the second inning.
Things did not go much better for Bowie’s offense as they could not get a base runner on in the third inning.
On the flip side, the Lady Cats leadoff batter was able to get on base due to an error. After a sacrifice bunt moved her to third, the next batter drove in the run to give Paradise a 2-0 lead heading into the fourth inning.
The Lady Rabbits offense got some life to it when senior Carrington Davis led off with a solo home run shot to left field to cut the lead to 2-1.
Hoping it would spark some momentum for the rest of the team, instead the next three batters struck out.
Besides another hit batter with two outs, Bowie was able to stiffen any offense from Paradise as the game moved into the fifth inning.
A drawn walk from Kylie Fleming with two outs and a wild pitch put her in scoring position for the Lady Rabbits, but the next batter could not drive her home.
For the Lady Cats, an error and a walk put two runners on with no outs. The next batter hit a home run to center field.
Two more errors and a single scored another run to make it 6-1, but Bowie was able to stop it before things started to go off the rails.
Hannah Love was able to find her way on base in the top of the sixth due to an error to lead off the inning.
Despite stealing second and making her way to third base after a ground out, the Lady Rabbits could not get her home. Bowie gave itself a chance by not allowing any base runners to end the sixth inning.
Unfortunately, there would be no late inning rally as the Lady Rabbits could not get any base runner on as they were sat down one, two, three to end the game, losing 6-1.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.