MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Neither spring rain nor possibly the youngest team in the Spring Fling Class A state baseball tournament could dampen Sale Creek’s 4-0 loss to Knoxville Grace on Friday at the Starplex softball complex.
“I’ve got eight eighth graders and four of them start all the time and another one started some games,” veteran softball coach Clifford Kirk said after this Lady Panthers were eliminated from the tourney. “I don’t know anybody else who plays four or five eighth-graders.”
Eighth-graders Mary Vandergriff (shortstop), Madysun Steele (designated player) and Sydney Poe (first base) each went 1-for-3 – that was half the team’s hit total – in Friday’s loss and Avery Cox was the team’s flex playing right field.
“I’m proud of all these young kids,” said Kirk, who has taken all three teams he’s coached – Hixson, Soddy-Daisy and Sale Creek – to the state tournament.
He won titles with the Lady Wildcats and Lady Trojans and is in his third year with the Lady Panthers.
Grace later lost to Forrest, 7-3, in the TSSAA Spring Fling Class A state softball tournament.
And had the spring rains not messed with the schedule, Kirk believes the Lady Panthers would have been at a much better point in their development coming into the state tournament.
They left Murfreesboro with a 23-16 record and beat Adamsville twice and East Robertson while losing to Forest and Knoxville – those two teams played for the Class A state title later Friday.
“Once you drop into the loser’s bracket over here, it’s tough,” Kirk said. “You need some subs and in our case we don’t have many. If I sub, I sub another eighth-grader.”
Grace’s senior pitcher Jessica Webb scattered six hits, struck out 10 and walked four in posting the shutout. Webb also belted a solo home run – her only hit of the day – in the third inning.
Freshman pitcher McKenna Morgan went 2-for-4 and worked 2.2 innings, allowing three hits and three runs – only one was earned – while striking out one and walking one.
Jade Lawson, yet another eighth-grader, came on in relief and pitched the final 3 1/3 innings, giving up three hits and one run.
“Our season was so messed up with rain we didn’t get to play enough,” Kirk said. “We spent more time in our indoor practice area than we did outside and that was a detriment to our development. Once we started playing outside we improved from one game to the next.
“When I started I had to beg to get 10 kids to come out and play. They had won one game the year before, so we’ve slowly progressed with our player numbers and the quality of the athletes. I’m proud of them.”
It’s really not a surprise that Kirk has improved another softball program.
After leaving Lookout Valley as an assistant coach four decades ago, Kirk won a state title in his first season. When he moved over to Soddy-Daisy, Kirk claimed a championship trophy his second year with the Lady Trojans.
At Sale Creek, his third Lady Panthers team won three games and lost two in their only state tournament appearance in 33 years.
“Everybody was surprised we got here,” Kirk said. “We tried to play tough competition to make us better. We could have played more teams that weren’t better than us, but I doubt we would have been in Murfreesboro this week. We played Marion County five times and they were a really good team and were here this week, too.”
LINESCORE
Sale Creek 000 000 0 – 0 6 2
Knoxville Grace 012 001 x – 4 8 1
Morgan, Lawson (3) and Cooper; J. Webb and G. Webb.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gamil.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)