Red Bank's Hannah Wood slides safely into home as Lookout Valley pitcher Brianna Smith attempts the tag. The Lionettes defeated the Lady Jackets 6-4 and then went on to capture game two in the Red Bank Invitational over Sequatchie County by a 11-3 count. Wood had six hits in the two games to lead the way for Red Bank.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Friday was a pretty good day for the Red Bank Lionettes softball team.
Hosting a six-team tournament, the Lionettes won two games on the opening day, holding off Lookout Valley by a 6-4 final in the first one before winning by a more comfortable 11-3 margin over Sequatchie County in the second one.
Hannah Wood was the sparkplug in both as she had three hits twice and was the winning pitcher in the second one.
But on a day when Red Bank evened its record at 9-9, the girls in blue had their hitting shoes on and they scored a bunch of runs as a result.
"I thought we came out ready to play, but we have to know that we can't sit on a lead," said Red Bank coach Mandi Munn following the win over Lookout Valley.
"We've been in sort of a hitting slump as a team, so we needed a good day at the plate. It's good for us to get a little momentum going, but our hitting was definitely the key to this win. We're still trying to figure out who needs to play where, but I'm confident in our defense as it has been solid all season," Munn added.
Red Bank used a five-run first inning to sparkplug the win over the Lady Jackets.
Shortstop Allison Walker had a two-run double to drive in Destiny Painter and Layla Babb while Wood drove in the third with a single and scored the fourth on a wild pitch. Dani Usher, who followed Wood with a double, scored on a fielders choice by Kelsey Peden for the final run of the inning.
That's the way it stood until the fifth when Sami Shrader ripped a 1-1 pitch off the wall in left for a solo homer.
Lookout Valley had been threatening all game as the Lady Jackets left the bases loaded in the third and fifth innings without anything to show for it.
They finally cashed in on their opportunities in the sixth, but it was a case of too little too late.
Casey Crownover reached on an error to lead off the inning before Katelyn Mitchell singled and Taylor Hoge reached on a bunt to load the bases.
Faith Payne drove in the first run with a single to right before Hoge scored on a wild itch. Scarlett Hamrick's fielder's choice plated the third run while a sacrifice fly to right by Annie Marr made it 6-4.
Hoge earned a two-out walk in the seventh, but she was left at first when Payne struck out swinging to end the game.
Lookout Valley coach David Dinger felt like that first at-bat for Red Bank was the downfall for his team.
"We dug ourselves a hole we couldn't get out of as that first inning was tough," he began after his team fell to 14-7 with the loss.
"We had plenty of chances and several good swings with the bat, but we didn't do anything to help ourselves. Red Bank hit it well and I thought we played hard, but we just couldn't overcome the first inning," Dinger added.
Kendall Farr was the winning pitcher as she went six innings and allowed all our runs on seven hits. She also finished with one strikeout, one walk and one hit batter.
Wood was the leader with three hits while Walker finished with two. Hanna Land, Dani Usher and Shrader all had one hit apiece for Red Bank.
Payne was the only Lookout Valley player with two hits. Katie Dinger, Emily Rye, Crownover, Mitchell and Hoge all had one apiece.
In the win over the Lady Indians, Wood had three more hits, including a triple, while scoring a run. She was also the winning pitcher as she struck out four and walked none.
Painter added two hits, including a double, and also scored three runs.
Hixson, Sale Creek and Ooltewah are the other three teams in the tournament.
Munn has already called off Saturday's games because of the prediction of rain, but action will pick up on Sunday afternoon at 2 with four games scheduled before the championship at 8.
The schedule includes: Red Bank vs. Hixson at 2; Lookout Valley vs. Sale Creek at 3:30, Ooltewah vs. the Red Bank/Hixson winner at 5 and Sequatchie County against the Lookout Valley/Sale Creek winner at 6:30. The winners of those last two games will then meet at 8 for the championship with all games played at Red Bank.
LOOKOUT VALLEY 000 004 0 -- 4 7 2
RED BANK 500 010 x -- 6 8 1
Smith and Mitchell; Farr, Wood (7) and Simpson.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)
Red Bank's Kendall Farr was the winning pitcher in the Lookout Valley game.
photo by Dennis Norwood