The Lady Huskies ended the 40th edition of the Tiny Day-Red Edmonds Memorial Tournament with a 6-3 win over Volunteer and a 6-0 loss at the hands of David Crockett to finish in the semifinals of the championship bracket on Sunday afternoon.
North Greene wrapped up the weekend with a 4-1-1 record and advanced to the top bracket on Sunday after a successful run on Friday and Saturday.
“If you told me before the tournament that you’d go 4-1-1 in the Tiny Day that’s usually a pretty good thing because there’s pretty good competition. It’s a prestigious tournament and overall, we’re pretty pleased with that effort,” North Greene coach Avery Weems stated.
North Greene 6, Volunteer 3
North Greene began Sunday with a 6-3 win defeating Volunteer.
“We got out to a fast start. Kind of jumped out and took control of the game. I thought it was just a good all around effort. I thought we played our game well,” Coach Weems mentioned.
The Lady Huskies started fast with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Kinlea Eastep bunted on the first pitch and reached first. Eva Leonard bunted on the third pitch that North Greene saw and forced Volunteer to make a tough throw that resulted in an error. Eastep rounded third and scored while Leonard moved to second.
North Greene led 1-0 and then 2-0 with a line drive shot to center from the bat of Hannah Brooks. Leonard scored easily from Brooks’ RBI-single. Later in the inning Addi Dean laid down a sacrifice bunt to score courtesy runner Kylee Listek.
“It was a great start. Putting pressure on the defense. We know those first couple of girls are fast and if they can get it in play and get it down then it’s going to put the defense in a tough spot. That’s just what happened and they made it happen,” Coach Weems stated.
North Greene led 3-0 after one and increased it to 4-0 in the third. Brooks started the inning with a base hit and. Courtesy runner Kylee Listek made her way back to the basepaths and scored with an RBI-single from Josie Graham.
The Lady Huskies needed more insurance to secure the win and received two more runs in the fourth. Charlie Turnmire started off with a single and Kinlea Eastep’s RBI-double off the fence scored her. Eva Leonard smacked an RBI-single into center field to score Eastep. The lead sat at 6-0 after four.
Volunteer scored one in the fifth and had one more chance in the sixth with the clock expiring and made it interesting. Danni Guinn slapped a solo home run to shrink their deficit to 6-2. The Lady Falcons scored another due to an error in the field and loaded the bases with 2 outs. Hannah Brooks got the batter to fly out to end it.
Brooks pitched six innings and gave up seven hits, two earned runs, and struck out eight batters. On offense she was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
“I thought she competed. I thought she kept them off balance. Just a lot of long at bats where she was making them uncomfortable and fighting them off,” Weems shared.
Kinlea Eastep went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs. Eva Leonard went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. Josie Graham was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
David Crockett 6, North Greene 0
The Lady Huskies ran into trouble with David Crockett and couldn’t get anything working on offense in the championship semifinals.
Madelyn Dulaney shut down North Greene’s offense and held them hitless all game in a 6-0 defeat. North Greene’s first seven batters struck out and eight of the first nine through the order were sat down by way of the K.
“We were in it there for a little bit until it finally got away from us. Crockett is just a real good team,” Weems mentioned. “Dulaney really puts you in uncomfortable situations at the plate. We never could make the adjustments that were necessary to figure her out.”
Hannah Brooks dueled with Dulaney and went toe-to-toe with her for most of the way until Crockett’s long balls did damage. The Lady Pioneers were held hitless until Lily Mango’s solo home run in the second inning. The score reached 2-0 in the third after Isabella Blanton’s sacrifice fly helped score a run.
The fourth inning changed everything and put the game out of reach with time winding down. Emma Hall delivered an RBI-single to score Lacey Whitaker to extend the lead, but the big hit came later in the inning. Madelyn Dulaney delivered a 3-run home run next to increase Crockett’s lead to 6-0 where it stayed until the final.
North Greene has a short turnaround and heads to Carter County for a District 1-1A matchup with Hampton tonight at 5 PM.
