ATHENS, Tenn. — A total of seven balls flew out of the park as Cleveland and McMinn County combined for 25 runs, and30 hits in Monday's District 5-4A softball regular season finale.
The Lady Raiders blasted four shots, including one that hit the Tribe fieldhouse, to race out to a 14-3 advantage before holding off a late Lady Cherokee seven-run rally, including a pair of three-run shots, to claim the 15-10 victory.
The teams return to the Athens Friday evening for the District 5 Tournament, with second-seeded Cleveland (15-12, 5-1) battling No.
3-seed Rhea County (10-11, 1-5), while McMinn (7-14, 1-5) will tangle with top-seed and fifth-ranked Walker Valley (26-8, 5-1, in the opening round).
Lady Raider senior Allison Farnsworth wasted no time putting the visitors on the board with a two-run blast to the parking lot in the top first, while junior Brylee Cisco, who had four hits on the day, added another run in the second with an RBI-single.
With starting freshman pitcher Huntlee Dennison putting up back-to-back zeros from the circle, McMinn decided to intentionally walk Farnsworth to open the third. But the move backfired, as Lilly "Smalls" Mason belted the next pitch over the fence for a two-run shot.
McMinn responded in the bottom half of the third, getting a three-run home run from Addie Miller to cut the Cleveland lead to 5-3.
Not to be outdone, Cisco joined the home run party in the fourth with a solo shot and after a 1-2-3 fourth inning for Dennison, Columbia State commit Aspen Tipton-Williams smacked a two-run double to left before two more Lady Raider runs scored on a Tribe error to make it 10-3 after five innings.
To lead off the sixth, Farnsworth once again stepped up to the plate and demolished a softball off of the McMinn fieldhouse for a solo shot before Sofia Greene had a two-run double, plus another run scored off a McMinn miscue to make it 14-3 going into the bottom half of the sixth.
At this point, McMinn's Madison Herd hit a three-run home run and later Miller added her second another three-run blast, with a run scoring on Lady Raider error in between, to trim the difference to 14-10 score with just one out in that sixth.
Dennison regrouped to get the two outs needed to end that inning, and then Cleveland tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on the final of four McMinn errors.
In the bottom seventh, Dennison set the Tribe down in order, inducing a popout, groundout and game-ending strikeout, her fourth of the game, to clinch the win .
Farnsworth finished 3-for-3 with three runs batted in and the two home runs, while Mason went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in.
Cisco one upped that pair with a four-hit night, batting in two runs and scoring two. Freshman Ariyah Huffman came off the bench to go 2-for-2, including a double, and circled the bases twice.
Cleveland knocked out 16 hits and drew five walks, but only left a half dozen on base. McMinn, which had 14 hits and a trio of free passes, left just five "ducks on the pond."
Miller went 3-for-3 with her two dingers, plus drew a base on balls, drove in six runs and scored twice for the home team.
GAME SUMMARY
District 5-4A
Monday, April 28
at McMinn
Cleveland 212 144 1 — 15 16 2
McMinn County 003 007 0 — 10 14 4
WP: Huntlee Dennison 7 IP, 4 Ks, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 14 hits, 10 ER. LP: Bailey Derrick 7 IP, 5 Ks, 5 BB, 16 hits, 12 ER. HR: Allison Farnsworth 2, Brylee Cisco, Lilly Mason (C); Addie Miller 2, Madison Herd (MC). 2B: Farnsworth, Huffman, Tipton-Williams (C); Barnett (MC). RBI: Greene 3, Farnsworth 3, Mason 2, Tipton-Williams 2, Cisco 2, Dennison; Miller 6, Herd 3 (MC). RECORDS: Cleveland 15-12, 5-1 District 5-4A. McMinn County 7-14, 1-5 District 5-4A.