The West Lincoln Lady Bears could not overcome five costly errors to defeat the Sebastopol Lady Bobcats, Thursday night. Instead, the Lady Bobcats escaped the Bears Den with a 7-5 victory in Game One of the best-of-three series in the second round of the Class 1A State softball playoffs.

“The girls hit the ball really well,” said West Lincoln coach Andrew Redd. “I was very pleased with our offensive effort.

“We cannot make the mistakes and errors that we made and expect to win. Now, we need to regroup and clean up our mistakes for Saturday.”

West Lincoln outslugged the Lady Bobcats 12-9.

The Lady Bears(15-13) visit Scott County to battle the Sebastopol Lady Bobcats (15-3) Saturday for Game Two and if necessary, Game Three. Game times are 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Sebastopol 7, W. Lincoln 5

The game remained scoreless after the first inning of action.

In the top of the second, Sebastopol claimed a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the second, West Lincoln answered the challenge and cut into Sebastopol’s lead at 3-2.

In the fourth, the Lady Bobcats managed to increase their lead 4-2.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Bears exploded with three runs to claim their first lead at 5-4.

In the top of the sixth, Sebastopol managed to break through West Lincoln’s tough defense and recapture the lead 7-5.

Lacey Hedrick was the winning pitcher for Sebastopol with two strikeouts and no walks. Shelby Barrett (0K, 0BB) collects save.

Micah Redd suffered the setback for West Lincoln with no strikeouts and two walks. Malori Hall (0K, 0BB) pitched one inning in relief.

First baseman Brentley Comans was the offensive leader for the Lady Bobcats with a double and a single. Bethanie Myers and Morgan Leah contributed a pair of singles. Whitney Billings doubled. Hitting safely were Taylor McPhail and Baylee Greene.

“West Lincoln did a good job hitting the ball,” said Sebastopol coach Wayne Wilson. “Overall, I was pleased with my girls effort. They kept battling until the very end. I expect a huge battle again from West Lincoln Saturday.”

Third baseman Malori Hall directed the Lady Bears’ offense with two doubles. Katie Hester and Bentley Sills provided a double and a single apiece. Layton Sills ripped a pair of singles. Brianna Fauver had a double. Destiny Allen, Karley Smith and Redd hit safely.