The Whitwell Lady Tiger softball team got a dose of reality last weekend when they lost three games in the Soddy Daisy Invitational at Warner Park, but they bounced back without a problem a week later.
Whitwell won the Red Bank Invitational with three straight wins, the last being a 4-2 victory over Sale Creek after the Lady Tigers had run-ruled Red Bank (17-2) and CSAS (11-1) in their first two games.
Saturday’s championship game went the distance, but Whitwell was equally as impressive in victory as senior Anna Yell went all the way and improved to 17-4 with the win as her team improved to 21-8.
Yell retired the first 17 Sale Creek hitters she faced, Hannah Skiles getting a two-out single to center to break up the perfect game with two outs in the sixth.
Yell, who has already committed to play softball at Cleveland State where she plans to major in nursing, allowed two more hits and two walks in the seventh as Sale Creek avoided being shutout by scoring two in its final at-bat.
Macie Stanfield was the losing pitcher after allowing three runs on just two hits while striking out three and walking five. She was replaced by Madison Stott with one out in the third.
“I feel pretty good as we came out strong today,” Yell expressed shortly after the final game had ended.
“Sale Creek is a strong team, but we were able to hold our own. And I really wasn’t that worried at the end as I knew my defense would save me,” she added.
Whitwell coach Rebecca Castle was just proud of the way her team bounced back after getting beat by three AAA teams last weekend.
“We played some softball this weekend and Anna Yell led us the whole way with her pitching and her bat. The good news is that we got contributions from everyone. We came ready to play,” Castle began.
Sale Creek made it close at the end, but neither Castle or anyone on her team seemed to be too concerned.
“Who cares how many runs they score as long as we come out on top with one more than they get. But they’re enjoying the game right now and we’re feeling pretty good as head into our district tournament,” the coach concluded with a smile.
The Lady Panthers, who had gotten embarrassed in a 10-0 loss to Red Bank in Friday’s first game, came back like a different team on Saturday by winning three games to earn their spot in the finals. Their day began with a 5-4 win over Marion County, followed by a 7-1 win over Red Bank and then a 5-1 victory over CSAS in the losers bracket final.
While they had absolutely nothing to show for the first six innings, things got interesting in the seventh.
Yell retired the first two hitters without a problem before Shelby Sullivan walked, Hannah Hall reached on an infield single and Kristen Sharp walked to load the bases.
Allison Smith then ripped a two-run single to right and went to second on the throw home, putting the tying runs in scoring position. Madeline Gentry flied out to the fence in right to end the game, but Sale Creek coach Clifford Kirk was feeling much better about his team on Saturday than he had been a day earlier.
“We won three games today, but we were completely out of gas by that last game,” he said as he sat alone in the Sale Creek dugout after the game.
“I liked the effort we put forth as we did a really good job for the most part. Macie Stanfield has been a little bit under the weather and I had to replace her early, but if she had been up to par, I think we could have given Whitwell a closer game.
“They have a fine team, but we’d played all day before we played them. I’m just happy we stayed with it as we battled all the way to the final out,” Kirk added.
While Sale Creek scored its only two runs in the seventh, Whitwell scored once in the first, two more in the third before adding a final tally in the fourth.
Carley Terry had the only run-producing hit with a single in the fourth.
Delanie Merciers got the RBI after getting hit with the bases loaded in the first while three walks and two Sale Creek errors accounted for both runs in the third.
Madison O’Neal was the only Whitwell player to get two hits in the last game, including a single to lead off the second and a one-out double in the fifth. The Lady Tigers left 10 runners stranded, including the bases loaded in the first and third innings.
Red Bank was the defending champion for this event.
SALE CREEK 000 000 2 – 2 3 3
WHITWELL 102 100 x – 4 5 0
Stanfield, Stott (3) and Skiles; Yell and Rollins.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)