The Pike Lady Bulldogs softball season came to a close Friday with back-to-back loses in the Class 3A South Regional at the Gulf Shores Sports Complex.

The Bulldogs lost 18-4 to Excel and 10-0 to Slocomb.

Youth and a lack of experience proved too much for the Bulldogs, said head coach Fawn Simms.

“I’m not pleased that the season is over,” Sims said. “I think we could have competed with those two teams. We are just a young team.”

In both games the Bulldogs were able to get runners on base but were unable to drive in the big runs when needed. The Bulldogs scored just four runs in the two ballgames.

“In the first couple of innings we got on base,” Sims said. “We would hit the ball right at their players, and we just had trouble scoring runs.”

The goal throughout the season was to make it to the post season. If nothing else the Bulldogs gained valuable experience for next year. The Bulldogs are losing just one senior and with no juniors this year, they have plenty of time to get the program in the right direction.

“Our struggle this year was due to lack of experience,” Sims said. “We did come a long way with the rookies. We took some of them off to the side and told them that if they work hard and compete they can make the team better.”

Even though they were outscored 28-4, Sims was impressed with how her team kept competing.

“As bad as it was, it could have been worse,” Sims said. “We closed the gap. We fought to the finish; I am proud of the progress that we made. We learned a lot.”

And she has high expectations for the 2017 squad.

“My expectations are high because I feel like we now know what we are doing,” Sims said. “It’s a process. We are going to keep working. The season starts tomorrow for us.”