photo by Aaron Johnson
CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Just when it seemed to be inevitable that Saturday would end on a cold, miserable note for the Red Bank Lady Lions, things began to heat up.
Specifically their bats evolved from cold slabs of metal into red-hot sticks of thunder and lightning in a matter of moments, and the sudden turn of events turned Red Bank into the champion of the Lady Raiders Invitational, 12-1, on an afternoon fit for neither man nor softball player.
Trailing a confident Midway squad that had beaten them earlier in the day in pool play, the Lady Lions went into the home half of the third inning still scoreless. But the tiniest crack of an opening presented itself, and Coach Mandi Munn's team remembered her instructions.
"We have just enough team speed that we can work with. We told them to put pressure on them, to take advantage of any opportunity," Munn said later. "We struggled earlier in the day, and when they scored early, we weren't able to have a comeback."
That pool play game was restricted to a 1:15 time limit, and once Midway broke a 3-3 tie, the Lady Lions (5-6) had only one inning to come back, and failed to do so. That made Red Bank the second seed in the elimination round. The Lady Lions rolled by East Ridge 9-2 as the Lady Pioneers committed six errors in addition to a 4-for-4, 3 RBI game from Dani Usher.
In the championship game, an RBI double by Richardson put Midway up 1-0 in the top of the first. But the baserunner was caught in a perfectly executed rundown started by Red Bank third baseman Heather Millard. Jasmine Simpson broke the ice with a single leading off the third, but it took a two-out hustle play to get on the board.
Lady Lions' No. 9 hitter, Bri Whitlock, reached on an error, then took second on a throw to third. After a force play, another booted grounder allowed the tying run to score. But Red Bank could not afford to stop there, and quickly added three more on a booming RBI triple by Kenzi Cagle, Ally Walker's RBI single and a fielder's choice throw.
But the bats did not catch fire until the fifth, ironically after two quick, easy outs. Singles by Usher, Whitlock and Autumn Babb combined for a run. Tori Akers doubled in two more. Cagle tripled into the identical right-center gap for one more RBI; Walker followed with her second RBI single in two innings; Millard doubled to set up one more big hit, and it was delivered in the form of a two-run double by Haley Tate.
In all, the Lady Lions recorded nine straight hits in an eight-run fourth.
"The last time we won a tournament, our only senior was a freshman." Munn said as she clutched the trophy.
In their earlier games, the Lady Lions got two hits and an RBI apiece from Walker and Babb in their first meeting with Midway; against East Ridge, Usher's big day was supplemented by a two-hit, two RBI from Millard.
Championship Final
Midway 100 00 -- 1 4 2
Red Bank 004 8x --- 12 11 0
Walker and Simpson; Hall, Richardson (4) and Stansbury.
Semifinal
East Ridge 110 00 -- 2 4 6
Red Bank 012 33 -- 9 7 1
Ervin and Najelluoah; Walker and Simpson.
Saturday Pool Play
Midway 300 2 -- 5 5 0
Red Bank 120 0 -- 3 6 2
Richardson and Stansbury; Akers, Walker (2) and Simpson.
carty43@netzero.net
photo by Aaron Johnson