By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

HOGANSVILLE – Her season hadn’t even begun when Callaway’s Kelly Carlisle was sidelined.

During a preseason game, Carlisle suffered a broken finger, and she was told she’d be unable to swing a bat for a month.

On Tuesday afternoon, Carlisle was back in the lineup, and while it was a difficult day for Callaway in a 13-0 loss to Lamar County, coach Ashley Summerlin was happy to have one of his best players available once again.

“She definitely is going to help us out,” Summerlin said. “I told her, go hit lead off. I’m sure she wanted to go out here and go 3-for-3, but I think being able to come out here and just put the ball in play was a positive for me.”

Carlisle, who has been able to pinch run over the past month, started in the outfield and had three at-bats with a pair of groundouts and a fielder’s choice.

“I know it’s going to take her a little while,” Summerlin said. “It’s been a month. She’ll have to figure it out, and she’ll be fine. We’ll put here in the outfield right now, and we’ll go from there.”

Callaway (7-7) was hoping to get off to a winning start in Region 5-AA, but Lamar County was too tough.

After a scoreless first inning, Lamar County surged ahead with three runs in the second inning, and it put the game away with eight runs in the fifth inning.

Ryla Traylor had two hits in the fifth inning, including a home run that sailed over the center-field fence.

Oeisha Jenkins had a double for Callaway, and Lydia Bartlett and Skylar Rice both had hits.

“That team, they’re really good,” Summerlin said. “And they’ve got one of the best pitchers in the state (Brinkley Yevak). They’re going to hit. If you have to outscore them, it’s going to be very difficult to do.”

Callaway faces another tough region challenge on Thursday against Heard County.

“You just have to move on,” Summerlin said.