The top-seeded Central Lady Pounders had no trouble winning and advancing in the District 6-AA softball tournament, but the second-seeded Lady Pioneers from East Ridge weren't as fortunate.
Central began the action at Red Bank Saturday morning with an 8-0 win over fourth-seeded Tyner in a game that was a lot closer than that final score might indicate.
The third-seeded Red Bank Lionettes followed with a 15-10 win over East Ridge in a slugfest where the hitters definitely dominated the pitchers.
Then in two games later on Saturday, Tyner stayed alive with a 16-0 win over Howard before East Ridge ousted Hixson by a lopsided 21-2 final.
Central will now face Red Bank on Monday at 4:30 while Tyner and East Ridge in the losers bracket game at 6:30.
CENTRAL 8, TYNER 0: The Lady Pounders may have been expecting an easy win over Tyner, but the Lady Rams had other ideas.
It was close from the start as Central scored single runs in each of the first three innings. It wasn't until the Lady Pounders batted around in the sixth and scored five runs that the issue was finally decided.
Brooke Parrott was one of the ring leaders as she pitched a two hitter, struck out 15 and only allowed one walk as her team improved to 17-15 with the win.
Cheyenne Slaughter was the only Central player with three hits and she was able to score twice while teammates Sam Scott, Reagan Benedict, Alexis Grampp and Parrott all had two hits apiece.
A walk to Jamesia Parks in the fourth was Tyner's only base runner until Jarvaneika DeLoach stroked a single to left in the fifth. Jakayla Moore had a single in the sixth, but that was it as the Lady Rams never really threatened to score.
"I think we got a little frustrated with ourselves as we just didn't hit the ball very well, but Tyner was ready and they made some outstanding plays. We're just trying to stay focused on what our immediate goals are, but we certainly didn't want to look past them," said Central coach LeeAnne Shurette once the game ended.
Tyner coach Bill Elliott had nothing but good things to say about his girls as they've made great progress in recent seasons.
"We played hard and gave it all we had, but we just ran into a buzz saw today. We have a lot of young players, so we're excited about continuing to get better as we get more experience," he praised.
Parrott got things going in the bottom of the first with a one-out double and she scored the first run on a single by Grampp.
Slaughter reached on an infield single to lead off the second and scored on a sacrifice fly by Cassidy Simms for a 2-0 lead before Savannah Smith singled to drive in Benedict with the third run.
Simms led off the sixth with a double and scored on a triple by Parrott while Grampp, Slaughter, Mikayla Gill and Tatum Morgan all had RBI-singles to help blow open a close game.
RED BANK 15, EAST RIDGE 10: The Lady Pioneers had prevailed by a 7-4 final the last time these two teams met, but that score had been surpassed by the second inning.
The Lionettes got the early advantage with four runs in the first and they added three more in the second after the Lady Pioneers had answered with three of their own.
A three-run homer by East Ridge catcher Kati Kennedy got the Lady Pioneers within 4-3 while her grand slam in the fourth allowed her team to take a 9-8 lead as the East Ridge faithful came to life.
The celebration didn't last long as Red Bank sent a dozen hitters to the plate in the fifth where they scored seven runs and regained control of the game.
East Ridge countered with a run in the bottom of the sixth, but that was as close as it would get after Red Bank relief pitcher Kendall Farr slammed the door on the East Ridge offense.
"That was a tough game and a slugfest for sure," said Red Bank coach Mandi Munn after her team had improved to 15-11 with the win.
"There have been times this season when we made mistakes on defense and let that change the outcome, but we were able to avoid that today. I think we're peaking at the right time with our bats as I know we can score a bunch of runs. It's all about swinging at good pitches and that's what we did today.
"I was also really proud of Kendall as she came in and did her job. We've taken our lumps this year, but we have some tough kids and we're just trying to take it one step at a time," Munn nodded.
East Ridge coach Kerilyn Mongar felt like her team's defense was the main cause of Saturday's setback.
"We were jittery at the start and made a bunch of silly errors. We have to protect our pitcher and we didn't. I'm pretty frustrated right now as we have to learn how to finish. We pride ourselves on defense and the ability to make routine plays, but I guess we were nervous and excited and that's why we were rushing our throws," she explained.
Destiny Painter, Sami Shrader and Farr all had three hits for Red Bank as they finished with 16 for the game. Hannah Wood and Layla Babb both had two each while Lydia Dillard, Hanna Land and Shelby Romans all had one apiece.
Farr had three RBIs that included a solo homer while Shrader stroked a two-run homer in the first and Dillard had a two-run single in the fifth.
Morgan Montieth had three hits and scored three runs for East Ridge while Kennedy had the seven runs batted in with her two long home runs.
Sabrina Thompson and Mya Adams both finished with two hits apiece.
Farr was the winning pitcher in relief of starter Wood while Thompson suffered the loss.
TYNER 000 000 0 -- 0 2 2
CENTRAL 111 005 x -- 8 15 0
Price and Parks; Parrott and Benedict.
RED BANK 440 070 0 -- 15 16 1
EAST RIDGE 320 401 0 -- 10 12 6
Wood, Farr (4) and Romans; Thompson and Kennedy.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)