MONTICELLO – Lawrence County edged Franklin County 6-5 in slowpitch softball action Thursday night at LCHS. On a wet, sloppy night that saw a lightning storm wipe the junior varsity game, the Lady Cougars jumped to a 5-0 lead, then held off a stubborn Franklin County comeback effort.

With the win, Meleah Howard’s Lawrence County team improved to 3-2 on the young season.

“It wasn’t a thing of beauty,” Howard said, “but we’re happy to get a win. We really haven’t gotten into a rhythm yet this season, but we’ll keep working at it. Hopefully, we’ll come around.”

In the bottom of the second, RBI singles by Maddux Kirkland and Callie Fortenberry staked Lawrence County to a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the third, the Lady Cougars stretched their lead to 5-0, thanks to some Lady Bulldog miscues, and a run-scoring single by Lexie Johnson.

In the top of the fourth, Franklin County battled back. Run-scoring hits by Jamisha Starks, Jalisha Bethley, and Shelley Case, along with two LCHS errors, keyed the innings.

Two more Franklin County errors handed the Lady Cougars a gift run in the bottom of the fourth, making it a 6-3 game. It stayed that way until the top of the sixth, when the Lady Bulldogs trimmed the lead down to one run, on hits by Case and Sierra Bethley.

Franklin County got the potential tying and lead runs on base in the top of the seventh, but was unable to score.

Case and Emily Wallace led Franklin County with 2 hits each. Tiera Collins and Lexie Johnson each had two hits for the Lady Cougars.

Lawrence County will next be in action Monday night at Florence.