The Greeneville softball team was locked in from both the batters’ box and the rubber on Friday night as it took down North Greene 12-4.
Every Lady Devil in the lineup earned a hit in the win, and Brynlee Jones turned in her second stellar pitching performance in as many days. After Friday’s win over a strong North Greene squad Greeneville appears to be on the up tick at the right time of the year.
“I’m really proud of the girls,” Greeneville coach Lilly Million said. “They showed up ready to play and I couldn’t be happier. We showed we were ready to hit the ball early, and defensively Brynlee absolutely threw the ball great tonight. I couldn’t be more pleased with the girls tonight.”
Greeneville’s big offensive outing got going in the second inning with six runs on seven hits. With two outs Riley Foshie gave the Lady Devils a spark by skipping a groundball through the right side. Kinslee Lewandowski got the scoring started when she sailed a double into the left-center gap.
Kaley Garland then sent a line drive to right field and raced around the base path for a two-run triple. Baylee Ramsey, Brynlee Jones and Destani Bailey all came up with RBI singles to push the lead to 6-0 before North Greene could find the third out.
All of the damage was done with two outs as eight consecutive batters reached safely, and on Friday Greeneville scored nine runs with two outs.
“It’s great to see that kind of two-out approach,” Million said. “We talk a lot about keeping the inning going. Softball is a game of momentum and they played off of that tonight. One got a hit and it got the next one going and the next one going. That’s so important to be able to do in the postseason, so it was great to see that they could hit with two outs tonight.”
In the third inning Jones struck out the first two batters she faced, but then Kinlea Eastep found the right pitch and blasted a solo home run over the centerfield wall to get North Greene on the board.
Jones finished the inning with another strikeout, and she kept the Lady Huskies guessing all night. She finished Thursday’s win over Cherokee with 15 strikeouts and followed that on Friday with 11 more against the Lady Huskies. She walked three and allowed six hits in the complete-game effort.
“Brynlee is utilizing all of her pitches to her advantage,” Million said. “She’s using six or seven pitches to get outs. She’s learning from each batter and using what she learns to her advantage. She’s really throwing it well right now. She is such a big part of this team, and when she is throwing well it lifts everything else.”
Greeneville scored three more runs in the bottom of the third inning, and again, all with two outs. Garland got the side going by bombing a two-run home run over the centerfield fence. Ramsey and Kyla Jobe put a pair of singles into left field before Jones pushed the lead to 9-1 with a run-scoring line drive into the grass.
Both teams left runners in scoring position in the fourth inning, but North Greene found two runs in the top of the fifth frame. Chloe Keys was walked and Eastep reached on an error that put two runners in scoring position. They both crossed when Loren Blevins grounded out to Foshie at third base. The Lady Devils threw behind Eastep at third to try for a double play, and the speedster made the aggressive decision to dart for the plate.
In the top of the sixth side the Lady Huskies closed the gap to 9-4. Josie Graham did it all with her feet, first walking before using a steal, wild pitch and passed ball to get all the way around the base path.
In the bottom of the inning Jamie Jackson bounced a two-run double off the fence and she scored when Garland sent a sacrifice to right field to set the final margin at 12-4.
Greeneville earned 19 hits with seven players earning multiple hits on Friday. Garland led the way from her leadoff spot by going 3-for-5 with a home run, triple and five RBIs. Jobe was 3-for-4 with a triple. Brynlee Jones was 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Jackson, Lewandowski and Foshie each had a double.
North Greene earned six hits. Hannah Brooks was 2-for-3. Eastep had a home run, and Matti Phillips had a double.
Phillips took the loss for North Greene. In three innings she struck out one, walked one, and allowed 12 hits. Charlie Turnmire threw three innings with one strikeout, no walks and seven hits allowed.
