RUTLEDGE – The Greeneville softball team did not have its best stuff on Monday evening, but the Lady Devils did what mattered most, they advanced.
In the opening round of the District 2-3A Tournament at Grainger High School the Lady Greene Devils picked up a 6-2 win over Cherokee.
“It wasn’t our best performance, but it’s a win,” Greeneville coach Lilly Million said. “We didn’t hit it well, we didn’t field it well, but we did pitch well. It was a slow day with too many mental errors for this point in the season. We’re pleased with the outcome, but we have to pick it up tomorrow.”
Greeneville advanced to the winner’s bracket semifinals where it will meet Volunteer on Tuesday at 5:30 PM in Rutledge. On Friday the Lady Devils took down Volunteer 2-1 to conclude the regular season and Million expects another tough contest on Tuesday.
“We need bring focus and want-to tomorrow,” Million said. “We didn’t make the adjustments at the plate, by our third at bat we should be attacking a pitcher. I’m not sure what was going on, but we have to be better tomorrow.”
While for much of the night offense was difficult to find, the first five batters Greeneville sent to the plate on Tuesday scored for a quick 5-0 lead.
Brylee Tullock led things off by sending a soft single past the second baseman. She moved all the way around when Baylee Ramsey hit a groundball to the shortstop. The throw got away and Tullock never stopped running.
Kaley Garland dropped a single into shallow centerfield and Brynlee Jones followed with a line drive to right field to load the bases. Brooke Parsley then cleared the bases when she flew one to deep centerfield for a three-run double. Parsley made it to third on the play when the ball was thrown away trying to catch Jones.
Kinslee Lewandowski sent a sacrifice fly to centerfield to push the lead to 5-0 after one inning of play.
“Our whole mindset was to jump in front early. We wanted to build a big lead and then bring in someone else to pitch to save Brynlee’s arm. We started out by jumping ahead in the first inning, and then we couldn’t keep it going,” Million said.
Cherokee got on the board in the second inning. Lily Musslewhite was walked and then quickly stole second. The throw to catch her missed its target and she safely arrived at third.
Baylee Russell put down a sacrifice bunt and reached on another error before Jones struck out the next batters.
Jones was tough to touch on Monday and did not allow an earned run. In seven innings she struck out 13, walked six and allowed one hit.
“Brynlee did a great job of adjusting and got better as the game went on,” Million said. “I was proud of how she won the mental battles tonight. I wish we would have backed her up better, but I was proud of her tonight.”
Cherokee closed the gap to 5-2 in the top of the fifth inning. Ally Chandler was hit by a pitch and with two outs Kenzie Collins sent a double into the right-center gap. An error on the relay allowed Chandler to score on the play.
Collins’ swat was the Lady Chiefs only hit of the evening.
Greeneville got that run back in the bottom of the fifth. Garland led off the side by beating out a hard hit groundball to the left side. She stole second and then scored when Jones smacked a single through the left side. The ball was misplayed in the grass and Jones reached third with no outs, but she was left stranded on the corner.
Greeneville finished Monday with 10 hits. Parsley was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs. Tullock, Garland and Jones all had two hits.
