The North Greene softball team took a few innings to get warmed up on Wednesday night at Chuckey-Doak, but once they did the Lady Huskies cruised to a 13-2 win.
“It’s always good to get a win in a county rivalry game, and its always good to get a win heading into the postseason,” North Greene coach Avery Weems said. “Hopefully we are building a little bit of momentum. I thought we made good adjustments at the plate today, and that is something we are going to have to do in the postseason.”
It was the third time this week the Lady Huskies plated 13 runs and was their third double-digit win in as many days, but Weems is still looking for more out his squad before the District 1-1A Tournament arrives on Monday. North Greene will have one more chance to get ready for the postseason as it takes on West Greene on Thursday.
“I think we are playing ok right now. We have scored a lot runs the past few games and hit it decent, but I wouldn’t say we have played really sharp,” Weems said. “There were some things in each game that we could have done better. We are searching for perfection, and want to be playing our absolute best once the postseason gets here.”
The Lady Huskies scored two runs in the top of the first inning without earning a hit. Loren Blevins led off with a walk and Josie Graham was hit by a pitch. Matti Phillips hit into a groundout to score the first run. The second scored when Hannah Brooks sent a line drive to shortstop Emmie Tipton, but the ball was thrown away at third trying to double up Graham.
The Lady Knights evened the score in the bottom of the first frame. Madison Malone laid down a sacrifice bunt that scored Saniah Atchison, and Tralyn Southerland put a fly ball deep into centerfield that was dropped. Hayleigh Seidl scored on the play and Southerland ended up on third.
North Greene took the lead for good in the second inning. Madison McLain was walked and after a wild pitch and passed ball she scored when Destiny Fillers hit into a groundout.
The Lady Huskies stretched the lead to 5-2 in the fourth frame. Kennedy Malone led off the side by reaching on an infield error, and when the off-target throw rolled into right field she ended up on third. She scored on a groundout.
Jourdanne Marr reached first on another Chuckey-Doak error, and Blevins made it hurt when she sent an RBI double into left field.
For much of the first four innings North Greene struggled to find the right timing against Chuckey-Doak’s off-speed pitchers, Malone and Abi Donanho, but Matti Phillips led off the fifth inning by slamming a triple into the left field fence.
Hannah Brooks knocked her in by dropping a single into shallow right field.
In the sixth inning North Greene scored five runs on two hits, three walks, a hit batter and an error. Graham had an RBI single and Brooks also had a single in the side.
In the seventh inning Brooks came up with an RBI single to right field, and Charlie Turnmire sent a sacrifice to left field that stretched the Lady Huskies’ lead to 13-2.
Turnmire earned the win in relief for North Greene. In four innings she struck out eight, walked one and allowed two hits. Phillips threw three innings with two strikeouts, three walks and three hits allowed.
At the plate the Lady Huskies earned eight hits, while using seven walks and four errors to score their 13 runs. Brooks was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Graham went 2-for-4 with three runs scored. Phillips had a triple and Blevins had a double
For Chuckey-Doak Atchison was 2-for-3 with a double.
Donaho took the loss for Chuckey-Doak. In 2 2/3 innings she struck out three, walked four and allowed five hits.
