DRANEVILLE — Lily Ricketts and Jayme Gilbert each had two hits for Americus-Sumter, but Marion County had 15 hits, including three players who had three as the Lady Panthers lost their season opener 17-9.

Ricketts and Brittney Everette each had two-run singles in the third inning, but Marion County had built a 9-1 lead up to that point. Everette delivered in a pinch-hit situation.

“I thought it was a really good game for us to start the season with,” said Americus-Sumter coach Coleman Price. “It gave me a chance to evaluate things going into our first region on Thursday.

“We got the lead in the first inning, but they jumped on us. We fought back a little bit in the third, and we kept fighting. It’s just getting key hits and the young players understanding the situation and what they are asked to do.”

With the new region alignment, Price said region play begins a lot earlier because there will be a tournament at the end of the season to decide who goes to the playoffs. The past two years the team automatically received a berth because of the four-team region.

Price said some mistakes with timely hits helped Marion County (2-2) stake to a big lead.

“We walked a lot of folks, and we missed some routine fly balls we should have caught. We’re just really inexperienced and each game is a learning experience for us,” he said.