CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- After a week of dealing with Mother Nature, who put a stop to outside activities last week, Walker Valley returned to the softball field in a big way Tuesday at Larry Haney Field picking up an important district 5-4A win over McMinn County by a score of 6-1.
Junior right-hander Ryann Presswood was once again impressive out of the circle tossing another complete game for the Lady Mustangs. Presswood struck out nine Lady Cherokees (6-12, 0-2) while giving up only five hits and a single walk. The only blemish on an otherwise perfect afternoon was a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning.
“I'm really proud of the girls. It's a district win, a great win. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. We've been off for over a week and so I was really proud of them for coming out and getting that win,” said Lady Mustangs skipper Lauren Limburg. “I thought we did some really good things both offensively and defensively. I feel like we still need to work on, when we get runners in scoring position, going ahead and scoring those runs. But, Like I said, I'm really proud of the girls. They are great young ladies and they always give their all for the team. It's an honor to be their coach.”
Walker Valley left seven on base on the afternoon.
The Lady Mustangs (17-4-1) came out strong putting up a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning beginning with a lead-off walk to Karly Blackwell, who later put the first Walker Valley run on the board on a double to left-center field by Allyssa Davenport. Presswood's one out single to center scored Davenport to make it a 2-0 game.
The Feisty Fillies added two more runs in the lower half of the third with a bunt off the bat of Morgan Rice that scored Presswood, who had earlier reached on a McMinn error. Blackwell's single to deep short pushed Brylie Davis across the plate giving the Lady Mustangs a 4-0 advantage.
Blackwell stayed busy in the bottom of the fifth scoring on a double off the left-field fence by Davenport.
Brylie added to the run total in the sixth as she tagged her first home run of the season – a blast over the left-center fence that put the Lady Mustang on top 7-0.
McMinn's Cami Wade broke up the shutout in the top of the seventh with a long homer to left center.
From there, Lady Cherokee Ama Grimmett tripled with two outs, but was left standing at third when Presswood closed out the game with her ninth K.
The Lady Mustangs stay inside the district with a trip to Rhea County Wednesday before traveling to Hendersonville for tournament action this weekend.
“Tomorrow we've got Rhea at Rhea. That will be another big district game for us. Then we go to the Griffin Classic in Hendersonville this weekend. We're excited to go compete at Rhea and then this weekend,” Limburg said. “After being off for a week it's really good to get back out here in the sunshine and play the game we love.”
McMinn County 000 000 1 — 1 5 2
Walker Valley 202 011 x — 6 7 1
WP: Rann Presswood LP: Cami Wade HR: Wade (MC); Brylie Davis (WV) 3B: Lexi Cooley (MC) 3B: Alyssa Davenport (WV). HIGHLIGHTS: Wade 2-2 RS RBI (MC); Karly Blackwell 1-2 RS RBI, Davenport 2-4 RS 2RBI, Brylie Davis 2-3 2RS RBI, Haley Davis RS (WV). Records: McMinn County 6-12, 0-2 District 5-4A; Walker Valley16-4-1, 2-1.
(Email Richard Roberts at richardvol55@yahoo.com)