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A fly ball glancing off a fielder’s glove; A play at the plate where runner and ball reached at virtually the same instant; A runner touching first just as the ball arrived— All were a matter of inches that made the difference between winning and losing. But when things were measured out Friday evening on Cosby’s field, the No. 4 Titans (5-1) walked away with a 3-1 win over No. 2 Lee-Davis (6-2).

  “It’s a game of inches,” said Cosby head coach Ray Jeter. “When you play good teams like Lee-Davis that’s what it’s going to be, a game of inches, who gets the break, who has a runner in place to score. That’s what it’s going to come to.”

  For Lee-Davis head coach Jackie Davis, coming up inches short could be contributed to uncharacteristic Confederate miscues. “We made some mental mistakes that didn’t help us out throughout the game,” she said. “But it could have gone either way. They (Cosby) played well.”

  More than the loss, Davis was unhappy that her young Confederates appeared to be nervous playing the No. 4 ranked team. “That’s the thing, we shouldn’t be nervous,” Davis said. “When you think about it we’re the team to beat. That’s one of the things I need to get into their mentality that we’re one of the top teams in the area too. I don’t think we’re coming out and playing like that. I think we’re coming out and playing tentative. When you come out and play tentative you’re going to make some mistakes. We need to come out ready to play.”

  The game featured three solid pitching performances from Lee-Davis’ Kelsie Hudson and Kelly Heinz (four K’s facing six batters) as well as Cosby sophomore Kelly Higbie (four strikeouts in a complete game effort).

  Though Higbie struggled in spots, Lee-Davis could not take full advantage and were more harmed by lapses of their own.

  In the bottom of the first, Cosby’s Heather Sink led off with a single to short then advanced to second on a groundout by Sara Wiltshire. A groundout by Megan Bell-Hill moved Sink to third with two outs.

  Taylor Hall was walked and Megan Jones, running in place of Hall, got involved in a rundown between first and second. It appeared Jones would be caught to end the inning but a bad Confederate throw resulted in the runner reaching second safely. Meanwhile Sink sneaked home while the action on the base-paths ensued for a 1-0 Cosby lead.

  The Titans added to their lead in the bottom of the third. Once again, Sink got the ball rolling with a lead-off single. Then with one out, Bell-Hill drove a shot to short and barely beat out the throw to first.

  Hall’s shot to right resulted in an out but it advanced Sink and Bell-Hill into scoring position.

  Next up, Morgan Reynolds lifted a shot into short left. As the Lee-Davis fielders ran in for the catch, the ball glanced off a glove and fell to the ground for an error that allowed Sink and Bell-Hill to score for a 3-0 Cosby lead.

  “We should have made that play,” Davis said.

  But the Lee-Davis pitching gave the Confederates a shot for a comeback by not allowing another hit by the Titans over the remainder of the game.

  In the bottom of the fourth, Lee-Davis threatened to chip into the lead but came up short in the game of inches. Following walks of “Cheese” Mitchell and Hudson, Amanda Parker chopped a shot to the mound. When the throw came to the plate, it appeared that the sliding Mitchell’s hand reached at the same instant as the tag from Hall. But Mitchell was called out on a play that would have been a difference-maker.

  “That play at the plate could have gone another way,” Davis pointed out though she said the umpire made the call correctly. “We would have had runners on second and third and we would have ended up scoring our first run of the game.”

  The Confederates finally got on the board in the top of the sixth when Mitchell reached base via a lead-off walk. She then advanced to third on ground-outs by Hudson and Parker. A lofted pop shot by Taylor Melton dropped in allowing Mitchell to score.

  With their final chance for a comeback in the top of the seventh, Heinz led off with a single past short. Then with one out, Rachel Houff sent a good shot to short but Heather Colbert, running in place of Heinz, was caught at second to end the Confederate threat.

  “I would have just liked for us to come over here and play better than we did,” Davis said. “(If) we come over here and we play well and get beat then it’s one thing. But to come over here and feel like we kind of handed them the game that’s another thing.”

  Davis pointed out her team’s miscues were especially harmful against a team like Cosby. “This is one of the better teams in the area,” Davis said. “If they do what they’re supposed to do in their district they’ll be in the regional tournament.”

  For Jeter, his Titans got no less of a fight than he expected from Lee-Davis. “We knew that when you play those Hanover teams you’re in for a ball game,” he said.

Lee-Davis…................000 001 0— 1 3 1
Cosby….......................102 000 x— 3 4 1
Higbie and Hall; Hudson, Heins (5) and Mitchell
Highlights: Rachel Houff (LD) 1 for 3, Taylor Melton (LD) 1 for 3, RBI; Lacie Madison (LD) 1 for 3; Heather Sink (C) 1 for 3, 2 runs; Morgan Reynolds (C) 1 for 3, double, 2 RBI; Amanda Leferman (C) 1 for 2; Megan Bell-Hill (C) 1 for 2
Records: Lee-Davis 6-2; Cosby 5-1