Both Chuckey Doak and West Greene came out swinging Friday evening, trading runs early in a high-scoring battle, but it was the Lady Black Knights who held on for a 12-9 conference victory to complete the season sweep of their cross-town rival.
“I knew this was going to be a close game,” said Chuckey-Doak head coach Tim Armstrong. “Just because you beat somebody once doesn’t mean you’re going to beat them again. West Greene came in here and we just could not put them away because of the error bug. It’s hard to beat teams when you make 10 errors, and that made me a little uneasy—especially when we went three up, three down in the sixth.”
Despite the defensive struggles, the Lady Knights delivered at the plate, pounding out 14 hits with every starter contributing at least one. Hayleigh Seidl led the charge with a perfect 4-for-4 performance, including two triples and two singles. Jayden Myers and Elizabeth Shelton added two hits apiece, while Hayden Kenney drove in four runs.
West Greene managed seven hits on the night, all singles, with Abagale Jackson reaching base twice. Jackson and Alexis Cutshall each recorded an RBI.
Elizabeth Manuel earned the win in the circle for Chuckey Doak, allowing nine runs—just one earned—over 5 2/3 innings. She scattered seven hits, walked six, and struck out nine. Jackson took the loss in relief, tossing four innings while allowing four runs on three hits, walking two and striking out five.
West Greene struck first when Autumn Carter led off the game with an infield single, moved to second on Jackson’s base hit, and scored on a Cutshall RBI single to make it 1-0.
Chuckey Doak answered immediately in the bottom half, sending 11 batters to the plate. Consecutive singles from Manuel, Myers, and Seidl loaded the bases before Shelton’s RBI single tied the game. Kenney followed with a two-run single, and Aryel Mitchell added another RBI knock to push the lead to 4-1. Later in the inning, Madison Miller delivered a two-out, two-run double to center, capping the rally at 6-1.
West Greene clawed back in the second, taking advantage of walks and defensive miscues to cut the deficit to 6-5 without recording a hit.
The Lady Knights responded again in the bottom half, as Myers, Seidl, and Shelton opened the inning with three straight singles. All three eventually came around to score, stretching the lead to 9-5.
Momentum swung in the third as West Greene capitalized on more defensive errors. A two-out single by Kaylee Willett, a walk to Victoria Ramsey, and a string of miscues allowed the Lady Buffaloes to tie the game at 9-9.
Seidl sparked the go-ahead rally in the fourth with her second triple of the night and scored on a Kenney sacrifice fly to make it 10-9. Chuckey Doak added insurance runs later in the inning with timely hits from Jessie Dayton and Paylin Shelton, extending the lead to 12-9.
Both teams settled in defensively over the final innings, keeping the score unchanged. West Greene threatened in the seventh, putting two runners on with two outs to bring the tying run to the plate. However, a sharply hit ground ball by Jackson struck a baserunner attempting to advance, resulting in the final out and sealing the win for the Lady Knights.
Chuckey Doak, now 5-13 overall and 3-5 in conference play, will travel to Hampton on Monday before competing in the Tiny Day Tournament next weekend. West Greene falls to 4-8 (1-4 in conference) and will head to Johnson County for a conference doubleheader Monday.
