Morgan, Smith, Parrott Pace Lady Pounders Past Bearettes 6-0

Central Wins Twice Friday In East Hamilton Softball Tourney

  • Friday, April 28, 2017
  • Larry Fleming
Central's Cassidy Simms attempts a bunt Friday against Bradley Central in the East Hamilton softball tournament at The Summit. Simms went 1-for-3, a single in the fourth, in the Lady Pounders 6-0 victory.
Central's Cassidy Simms attempts a bunt Friday against Bradley Central in the East Hamilton softball tournament at The Summit. Simms went 1-for-3, a single in the fourth, in the Lady Pounders 6-0 victory.
photo by Dennis Norwood

Maybe Central softball coach LeeAnne Shurette won’t nag her Lady Pounders so much in the coming days.

Central collected eight hits, including two-run singles by Tatum Morgan and Janara Smith, on Friday to back Brooke Parrott’s three-hitter and the Lady Pounders defeated Bradley Central 6-0 in the East Hamilton tournament at The Summit.

“Shurette has been nagging, maybe more like emphasizing, that we needed our bats to come alive,” Morgan said.

“When our bats are alive I don’t think anybody can beat us because we have Brooke. She’s great.”

The Lady Pounders (13-6) scored the runs they needed for the win in the first inning off Bradley starter C.J. Beck.

Ina Henderson walked and scored on Parrott’s RBI double to right field. Kerri Sylvester reached safely when second baseman Summer Conley dropped a pop-up and Mikayla Gill bunted to load the bases.

Morgan followed with her clutch two-run hit to center for a quick 3-0 advantage.

Morgan went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in Central’s early 7-2 win against Lincoln County. Morgan finished with four RBIs.

“We’ve asked them to be more aggressive in the strike zone,” Shurette said. “Today we did that against a pretty good Lincoln County team. It wasn’t just one or two girls. Today our entire lineup did the job.”

Parrott again helped her own cause with a two-out, run-scoring single in the second. Janara Smith singled to start the inning, advanced on back-to-back groundouts ahead of Smith’s timely hit to left.

Gill opened the third inning with a single to left, but was forced at second on Morgan’s infield grounder. Jaleesa Smith singled and Cassidy Simms’ hit to center loaded the bases.

Janara Smith then delivered her two-run hit up the middle to cap Central’s scoring.

“I was just trying to do what I could to help our pitcher and our team,” she said. “I went 2-for-3 against Lincoln for a pretty good day. I’ll take it.”

Shurette is hopeful the pop her Lady Pounders had Friday is a trend that will carry the team into the District 6-2A tournament that begins next week.

“The bats were coming alive in the Soddy-Daisy tournament and then the weather got everything haywire. These reps today I think helped and maybe we’ll be in a groove for the (district) tournament.”

Leadoff batter Jenn Corbitt had two hits for Bradley (9-20) – a single in the first and a double in the third. She advanced to third on a wild pitch but was thrown out at home by Morgan, who was playing third, trying to score.

Savannah Lewis stroked a single to right-center field starting the second inning. Parrott then struck out Conley, Emily White and Beck.

“We’re trying to get some girls ready for the district tournament,” Bradley assistant coach Hubert Conley said. “We’ve played some girls that haven’t played a lot today to help our depth.

“Central’s pitcher is really good and we got the bats on some balls today. I was proud of that. We’re going to see several different pitchers in this tournament and that could help us next week.”

Host East Hamilton (10-13) won twice, beating White House 7-4 and receiving a forfeit when Mt. Juliet failed to show up for the tourney.

Ooltewah’s Lady Owls turned in a pair of unimpressive wins. They beat East Ridge 3-1 on Cheyanne Sales’ two-run homer with two out in the fifth inning.

On Wednesday, Sales smacked a grand slam in the fifth inning of a 6-2 win over the Lady Hurricanes.

In their second game, the Lady Owls edged White House 1-0 when Ally Chernak grounded out and Mabry Carpenter drew a walk to start the sixth inning. Sales followed Carpenter with a sacrifice bunt and a throwing error at first allowed the runners to take third and second.

Tyler Sullivan grounded out to the pitcher, Chernak was thrown out from shortstop at first base and Sullivan scooted home with the game’s only run.

“We were lucky today,” Lady Owls coach Jon Massey said.

MacKenzie Patterson threw a complete-game two-hitter – singles in the fourth and sixth innings – and struck out three.

Sale Creek beat Bradley Central 5-1 and played McMinn County in a late game. The Lady Cherokees beat Lincoln 1-0 earlier.

LINESCORE

Bradley Central                   000 00 – 0 3 1

Chattanooga Central          312 00 – 6 8 0

Beck, Rogers (3), Johnson (5) and White, Campbell (5); Parrott and Sylvester.

(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)

Brooke Parrott, a strong-armed right-hander who threw a three-hit shutout against Bradley Central on Friday, struck out nine and walked one as the Lady Pounders won 6-0. Central also beat Lincoln County 7-2.
Brooke Parrott, a strong-armed right-hander who threw a three-hit shutout against Bradley Central on Friday, struck out nine and walked one as the Lady Pounders won 6-0. Central also beat Lincoln County 7-2.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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