RICHMOND — The Madison Middle School softball team opened the season Monday with a pair of losses to Jackson County at Madison Central High School. The varsity squad fell 6-4, while the junior varsity suffered an 8-7 setback. In the varsity game, Jackson County scored four runs in the first and two more in the second before MMS scored four times in the third inning. In the first inning, MMS sixth-grader McKenzie Murphy walked and stole second and third. In the second inning, Xandi Adkins lined out. Catcher Audrey Wade then reached base on a walk and stole second and third. Anne Reynolds hit a single and then stole second. Wade was caught in a run-down and shaken up from a hard tag out when she slammed her head hard into the dirt. In the third inning, Anne Reynolds took the mound for MMS and walked the first batter. The next batter hit a long fly ball to left field where Emily Osborne made a spectacular catch. On the next pitch, sixth-grade catcher Rebekah Carson gunned down the runner attempting to steal third. The next batter hit a long shot to the outfield and was thrown out and tagged by Harvey while attempting to reach third. In the bottom of the third, Madison Middle’s Emily Osborne was thrown out at first after a hard shot to shortstop. Bailey Harden reached on a walk and Murphy was hit by a pitch. Tori Harvey then crushed a double scoring both Harden and Murphy. Harvey stole third and home. Saylene Denny reached first after a dropped third strike. She stole second and third and scored on a base hit by Adkins. Audrey Wade then singled. The Lady Panthers’ rally stalled and the game ended with back-to-back strikeouts. In the JV game, Jackson County jumped out to an 8-2 lead before MMS scored five times in the bottom of the third. In the first inning, the first Jackson County batter reached on a walk, but rookie Panther pitcher Krysten Kundrat struck the next batter out. The third batter hit a shot to deep center field and was put out on a relay from Bailey Harden to Kasey Frakes to McKenzie Murphy. Kundrat then struck out the next batter. In the second inning, the first three Jackson County batters reached base and scored before Kundrat struck two batters out in a row. Two more batters reached and scored. After a passed ball, catcher Rebekah Carson retrieved the ball and met the runner with a collision at home tagging her out just before the runner touched home to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Emily Osborne reached first on a walk and stole second and third. Kasey Frakes then reached on a walk and also stole second before Rebekah Carson hit a into a sacrifice to score Osborne. Frakes stole third and home to make the score 6-2. In the third, rookie pitcher McKenzie Murphy took the mound where she hit two batters, fielded a ball and threw to Kailey Boyer at first for the putout before she retired Jackson County with two strikeouts in a row. Jackson County scored two more runs the inning. In the bottom of third, Paige Gabbard reached on a single, then stole second and third before scoring on a long double of Kundrat. Murphy reached base on a single. Emily Osborne then hit a single and came all the way around to score, making the score 8-6. Kasey Frakes then added a double and then scored off a double from Rebekah Carson. Kailey Boyer drew a walk and Carson stole third, bring the tying run one base away. However the Panthers were not able to get that run across the plate. MMS coach Russ Carson was very pleased with the performance of both teams. This being the first game of the season a slow start wasn’t surprising, but in both games the Panthers battled back and were in position to win the game. “We were disappointed to not get the win but we were pleased that we fought back into the games,” Carson said. “We will strive to carry that momentum into our next game.” The Lady Panthers will take on Berea Middle today in Berea.