Oh, what a difference a day makes.
The East Hamilton Lady Hurricanes are having a less than memorable softball season up to this point and it may have reached an all-time low on Thursday night when they got run-ruled at McMinn County.
But things were a bit different for the girls in black Friday afternoon as they came from behind to pin a 9-5 loss on the Red Bank Lionettes in the opening round of the 2016 Choo Choo Lady Canes Tournament that's being played at the Summit in Collegedale.
The game didn't start out like the Lady Canes may have liked as Red Bank scored five runs in the first three innings and looked to be in great shape with a 5-1 lead going to the bottom of the third.
Red Bank pitcher Hannah Wood, who had allowed just two hits and one run to that point, got the first two hitters on quick grounders to start the third, but couldn't get the third as East Hamilton sent 11 more hitters to the plate as they rallied with eight runs for a major turnaround.
The Lionettes never recovered as the 75-minute time limit was a factor and the game ended on a unassisted double play by East Hamilton's Alex Kouvarakis.
"That was good," said East Hamilton coach and tournament director Norma Nelson after her team's comeback victory.
"We had a long talk after last night's game and hope we straightened out a few things, but today was a great day for us. The rain finally stopped and that eight runs in the third was just awesome.
"We were down at that point, but we didn't fall apart and finally started hitting the ball," Nelson added.
Red Bank coach Mandi Munn must feel like her team is snake bit as the Lionettes play well overall for most of the game before hitting a rough spot in one inning.
Friday's tough inning was the third.
"That seems to the be story of our season where one big inning in a game bites us," Munn said after a post-game chat with her girls.
"Hannah was pitching well at that point and even should have been out of the inning, but things just didn't go our way at that point. We came out ready to play and were swinging the bats aggressively, but that one inning totally changed things.
"We can't let this get us down as we just have to keep fighting, but that one inning has been our downfall all spring," she concluded.
Red Bank had a great start with single runs in the first and third innings and three more in the second.
Destiny Painter and Shelby Romans led off the game with singles before Kendall Farr singled with one out to load the bases. Taylor Bonds got the easy RBI with a walk to plate Romans, but the Lionettes couldn't score any more as they left the sacks full.
Tori Barnes then evened the score with a two-out solo homer to left in the bottom of the first.
Hanna Land led off Red Bank's second with a double and scored on a Lady Cane infield error before Painter walked and Romans got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Wood then roped a double down the line in left to score two more, but again Red Bank left two in scoring position after Sydnie Rogers retired the next three in order.
Dani Usher's leadoff homer on the first pitch of the third extended Red Bank's lead to 5-1, but it wasn't enough as the Lady Canes came storming back.
Barnes had a two-out single and advanced on a wild pitch before scoring on a single by Alyssa Strickler. Tori Harris then reached on a fielders choice before Kourarakis connected on a three-run homer to center to tie the score at 5-5.
Sydnie Rogers walked, Whitney Richardson reached on an infield hit and Abbi Harden got hit before Syvana Rogers plated two more with a single on a 3-2 count. Danielle Scott then concluded the scoring with a pinch-hit single up the middle.
Sydnie Rogers walked Wood and Sami Shrader to lead off the Red Bank fourth before being replaced by Barnes.
Farr reached on an infield hit to load the bases with none out before Bonds was out on an infield fly rule. Then with runners on second and third and one out, Bonds lined hard to Kouvarakis at third, who stepped on third for the unassisted double play to end the game.
Farr was the only Red Bank player with two hits as the Lionettes finished with seven for the game.
Barnes was the only Lady Cane with two as East Hamilton finished with eight.
Red Bank was scheduled to play Marion County later in the evening while East Hamilton had a nice break before facing Marion in the final game of the day.
Pool play will continue on Saturday morning with the top four teams being put in the Gold bracket and the next four in the Silver bracket.
Championship games for both brackets are set to be played around 4:30 Saturday afternoon.
RED BANK 131 0 -- 5 7 1
EAST HAMILTON 108 x -- 9 8 1
Wood and Shrader; Sydnie Rogers, Barnes and Dean.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)