Central Advances In Class AA With 4-0 Win Over Creek Wood

MURFREESBORO – The Central Lady Purple Pounders just keep on winning.

They defeated DeKalb County by an 8-3 final on Tuesday in the opening round of the Class AA state tournament here at the Starplex Field Nol. 2 and they made it two wins in a row with a methodical 4-0 shutout over the Creek Wood Lady Red Hawks late Wednesday afternoon.

Central will now face Greeneville on Thursday at 5:30 (CST)  in the winner’s bracket final.

The Lady Pounders have been homer happy in recent weeks and set a state record for a single game in the state with five in Tuesday’s win.

Second baseman Samantha Scott led off the third inning with her first homer of the season and that got Central off and running.

Winning pitcher Brooke Parrott followed Scott’s dinger with a single that got past the Creek Wood right fielder and rolled all the way to the fence.  By the time the ball was retrieved, Parrott had raced all the way around to score for a 2-0 Central advantage.

Then in the fifth, Kerri Sylvester’s two-run double increased the lead to 4-0.

Parrott has won her last nine decisions as she’s pitched really well in recent weeks.  Wednesday’s game was just another example as the sophomore righty allowed just four hits and a single walk while striking out seven.

Creek Wood’s biggest threat came in the second when they loaded the bases with two outs, but Parrott struck out Kayla Jackson swinging to end the inning.

Montana Thomas ripped a two-out double off the fence in the seventh, but DeeAnna Massie lined hard to Parrott to end the game.

“I saw I pitch that I liked and I could feel it as soon as I made contact,” said Scott after hitting her first home run of the season.

“I didn’t know it had cleared the fence until someone told me to slow down when I rounded first, but this is an amazing feeling and I’m so happy.  This the farthest we’ve gone since we last won a state title in 1985, so we’re all pretty excited,” she added.

Central coach LeeAnne Shurette gave a lot of credit to her offense and to Parrott’s pitching as keys to Wednesday’s win.

“We made lots of good defensive plays and we hit the ball well all up and down the lineup.  Brooke was hitting her spots and throwing strikes when she had to.  I just hope we can stay focused,” she smiled.

One of the best defensive plays came in the fifth when right fielder Emma Beach ran a long way and snagged a tough pop down the line to end the inning.  She came off the field pumping her fist into the air and that seemed to spark her teammates right before they scored the final two runs.

“We let a lot of balls hit the ground earlier in the season, but we work on that every day in practice.  When a ball goes up, it has to be caught.  Emma just went and got that ball and it could have been a turning point in the game for us,” the coach praised.

Kaili Crawley, Ally Welch and Parrott all had two hits for Central while Sylvester and Welch had the only doubles and Scott the only home run.

CREEK WOOD  000 000 0 – 0 4 1

CENTRAL  002 020 x – 4 9 1

Baldwin, Griffith (3) and Melton;  Parrott and Crawley.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)