The Red Bank Invitational softball tournament turned into a round robin event after a few teams withdrew late, so there were three games at the newly dedicated Mandi Green Munn Field Friday afternoon.
Central’s Lady Pounders beat Red Bank in the first game by a final score of 9-5 in a game that ended with nobody out in the bottom of the fourth when the time limit expired.
Central coach Blake Wachtveitl is always glad to get a win, but he wasn’t the least bit pleased with the way his girls played or the approach they took to the game.
“We’re just trying to finish strong and to be playing our best softball in May, but we took a few steps backward as this was one of our worst games in a while,” he said matter of factly after his team improved to 16-8 for the season.
“We’ve got a number of seniors on our team this year and we’re counting on them to step up. The good news is we have about a week and a half to correct some little things, but it’s always good to get a win.
“We’ve been preaching development all season and doing things the right way, but we just didn’t have any energy today as we came out really flat,” he added.
It’s been a work in progress for Red Bank coach Bailey McGinnis. Her team came out on the short end of the score, but the veteran coach was all smiles when talking about the forward steps her team has taken since the season began.
“We started off kind of slow, but I’m proud of how we competed,” she expressed while Central and Sequatchie County were getting ready for the second game.
“If we had gotten to play a full game, who knows what would have happened, but we got run-ruled by Central twice this season and I feel like we starting to peak at the right time. We’re getting more aggressive at the plate and that’s always a good thing,” she nodded.
The Lady Pounders scored three runs in the first inning before adding five more in the second. They only scored one in the third and none in the fourth while Red Bank scored three in the second and two in the third.
The Lady Lions got back-to-back walks for Keri McKibben and Bria Smith to put runners on first and second with nobody out in the bottom of the fourth when the game was called by time limit.
Kennedi Sabb led off the game with a single and went to second on a throwing error before Amiya Williams drove her in with the first run on a single to left.
The next two runs all came without a hit as Red Bank pitcher Rickya Miles had trouble finding the strike zone and had two of her seven walks in that first inning. Central’s last two runs scored on wild pitches.
Emma Lakin had a run-scoring single in the second while Kierston Williams drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to second. Again, Central scored two runs on wild pitches while the only run in the third also crossed the plate following a wild pitch.
Red Bank’s Miles got a one-out triple in the second before scoring the first run on a single by Bekah Hays. The second run scored on a wild pitch while the third scored on a Central infield error.
Madison Wade drew a walk to lead off the third and scored a minute later when Ashanti Eddens crushed an 0-1 pitch high and deep over the fence in left for a two-run homer, the ball landing above and beyond that monster rock wall in left.
That big blow cut the difference to 9-5 and that’s the way it ended when the time limit ended the game in the next inning.
Williams was the only Central player with two hits while Miles was the only Red Bank player with two.
While Central beat Red Bank in the first game, the Lady Pounders made it two in a row with a 7-1 win over Sequatchie County in the second game with Signal Mountain posting a 7-5 win over Red Bank in the last game of the evening.
CENTRAL 351 0 – 9 5 1
RED BANK 032 0 – 5 5 3
Frank and Lakin; Miles and Woodruff.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)