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The Harlan County Lady Bears surrendered a late lead, falling 10-7 at 14th Region contender Jenkins on Friday.

Harlan County struck first with a run in the first inning. Kaitlyn Stittums reached base on a double, Savannah Sergent followed with a double to drive in the run.

Jenkins answered with a run in the bottom of the inning, but Harlan County quickly regained the lead with four runs in the second inning.

Mallory Johnson reached on a walk. Regan Neasce followed with a single. Katie Johnson loaded the bases with a walk. Stittums then earned a walk to drive in Mallory Johnson. Sergent drove in Neasce with a single. Bridgett Robinson loaded the bases with a walk. Farren Clark followed with a walk to drive in a run.

The Lady Cavs closed the gap to 5-2 in the fourth quarter, before exploding with an eight-run sixth inning to take control.

“They hit the ball good that inning, but we made a couple errors and walked a couple of batters,” said Harlan County coach Howard White. “They bunted a couple of time and we didn’t cover it. Then the wheels just came off.”

The Lady Bears put together a comeback effort with two runs in the final inning, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit.

Sergent started the offense with a walk. Jessie Johnson then reached base on an error. Tia King drove in both runners with a single to right field.

“Tia got a big hit for us in the seventh inning. She stepped right in there and drilled that thing,” said White.

Sergent paced Harlan County at the plate with a double and two singles. Stittums had a double, while King and Neasce each added a single.

Katie Johnson recorded six strikeouts, while allowing nine hits in the complete-game loss on the mound.

“I thought we played real well for the first game. We had the lead going into the sixth inning,” White said. “They have a good team. They don’t make mistakes, and they do the fundamental stuff.”

Harlan County (0-1) will host Whitley County on Monday. Jenkins (2-0) will travel to Belfry today.

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Harlan Co. 140 000 2 — 7 6 5

Jenkins 100 108 x — 10 9 1

Estevez and Niece; Johnson and Robinson. WP — Estevez. LP — Johnson.