CLEVELAND, Tenn.
— Over an hour lightning delay, Cleveland struck for a trio of quick runs and then held off second-ranked Walker Valley to knot the rivals atop the District 5-4A race.
Coming off hard-fought, one-run slugfest loss at Ooltewah Wednesday, the Lady Raiders wasted no time in taking control Thursday scoring all of their runs in their opening at bat and then stifling the potent Feisty Filles the rest of the way, at Brenda Lawson Field.
"After a tough loss yesterday, we kind of challenged our pitchers, and Huntlee (Dennison) really rose to the occasion," related first-year Cleveland head coach LeeAnne Shurette after the 3-1 victory.
"She went right at their batters and didn’t back down. Walker Valley is a great hitting team, but she did a great job keeping them off balance.
Come in after just the first out the day before and tossing 5.2 innings, allowing just two earned runs, plus striking out a half dozen in an 11-10 loss to the Lady Owls, the freshman limited the 2024 Final Four Feisty Fillies to just three hits and no earned runs in a complete-game effort.
"Our defense had her back and came up with some huge plays to get us out of a few tough spots," remarked Coach Shurette.
"Offensively, I thought we came out strong. We were hitting the ball really hard in the first inning and had some solid hacks throughout the game. Their team (WV) made some good defensive plays, but I was happy with the way we stayed aggressive at the plate."
Both teams are now 3-1 in district play, tied atop the standings, as Cleveland improved to 8-11 overall, while Walker Valley is 20-7 on the campaign.
The Lady Raiders will host Grace Baptist Academy Saturday morning at 10, while the Feisty Fillies will take a much-needed weekend off before going to Soddy Daisy Monday.
LADY RAIDERS 3, FEISTY FILLIES 1: After Dennison sat down the visitors in order to start the game, Cleveland was swinging early in the count against UTEP signee Ryann Presswood.
Junior leadoff Brylee Cisco toasted the centerfielder for a single to open the Lady Raiders' only scoring rally.
Freshman Ariyah Huffman dropped down a bunt and was safe at first due to an WV error, which also allowed Cisco to move to third base, where she scored on a sac fly by junior Landri Nelson.
With Huffman having been caught trying to steal a base, senior Allison Farnsworth roped a two-out double to right-center field. She came around when the Lady Mustangs committed back-to-back errors on balls hit by junior Lilly Mason and senior Ja'maya Hill.
Klaire Hall, also an 11th-grader, drove home Mason with a single for the final Cleveland score of the evening.
After being held hitless and getting just one runner on board in its first three tries, Walker Valley finally looked like it was going to break out.
Senior Amy Benson opened the top of the fourth by beating out an infield hit before USC-Upstate signee Alyssa Davenport was plunked. However, after a fly out to Hill in short right field wouldn't let the runners move up, Huffman stabbed a line drive shot in the hot corner and then fired to second for a double play to end the threat.
The Feisty Fillies finally got the goose egg off the top of the scoreboard in the fifth when Presswood led off the fifth with a double down the right field line.
After a pop up and a ground out left courtesy runner Addison Trew stay on second, Brylee Davis and Bryan signee Karly Blackwood drew back-to-back walks to jam the sacks.
Trew was able to score on a failed backdoor pickoff play went into right field, but after the throw back to the plate, Cleveland was able to nail the Lady Mustang baserunner trying to advance to second to end the at bat.
Dennsion got out six of the final seven Walker valley batters with freshman Nessa Byers opening the seventh with a two-bagger, but being left stranded after moving to third on a wild pitch.
After the three WV errors and trio of hits let the hosts put the Herd in a hole, Presswood only allowed three more hits, while striking out eight and only giv ing away one free pass in a complete-game effort.
"I’m proud of our girls for continuing to fight for seven innings," declared veteran Walker Valley head coach Lauren Limburg. "We made some mistakes both mental and physical that we need to clean up.
"Also, we missed out on getting key hits with runners in scoring position. Just like I tell the girls, one win or loss doesn’t define you. We need to learn from it and continue to get better."
GAME SUMMARY
District 5-4A
Thursday, April 10
at Brenda Lawson Field
Walker Valley 000 010 0 — 1 3 3
Cleveland 300 000 0 — 3 6 1
WP: Huntlee Dennison 7 IP, 2 Ks, 3 BB, HBP, 3 hits, 0 ER. LP: Ryann Presswood 6 IP8 Ks, 0 BB, HBP, 6 hits, 1 ER. 2B: Vessa Byers, Presswood (WV); Addison Farnsworth (C). RBI: none (WV); Landri Nelson, Ja'maya Hill, Klaire Hall (C). RECORDS: No. 2 Walker Valley 20-7, 1-3 District 5-4A; Cleveland 9-11, 3-1 District 5-4A.