RUTLEDGE – Greeneville found offense early, but struggled to find it in the late stages of Tuesday’s contest and suffered a 4-3 loss to Volunteer in eight innings in the winner’s bracket final of the District 2-3A Softball Tournament.
“I told them after the game that I’m not disappointed with everything that we put on the field tonight. We had some timely hitting early on in the game. We just didn’t produce at the end. When it mattered, when times got tough, when the pressure was on, we just couldn’t produce. That’s what it was tonight,” Greeneville Head Coach Lilly Million stated.
The Lady Devils scored all three runs in the second and third innings and went cold after that. They collected nine hits for the game, but only managed to hit safely three times in the final five innings.
For Greeneville, Coach Million discussed the lack of making adjustments and how it factored into Tuesday’s final. “Towards the end of the game (Emily Walker) had got some momentum and we just weren’t able to make the adjustments again. Great hitters make adjustments pitch-to-pitch and we’re not even making adjustments at-bat to at-bat right now. We’re processing things, but we’re processing them way too slowly.”
Two players accounted for six of Greeneville’s nine hits. Kaley Garland and Brooke Parsley collected three hits each. Garland went 3-for-4 and Parsley went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Unfortunately, none of their teammates were able to score them and they were left stranded all six times.
“Both of them did a great job tonight,” Coach Million bragged.
Gabby Atchison had the loudest, and hardest, hit of the game with a 2-run bomb in the 2nd inning to flip the scoreboard and help Greeneville take the lead.
“Gabby needed that honestly and our team needed that in that moment and that’s what got the game broke open. She needed that for her confidence,” Million explained.
Although Greeneville lost, the season is not over. The Lady Devils drop to the loser’s bracket and will play Grainger on Wednesday at 5:30 in an elimination game. The winner advances to the District 2-3A Championship and next week’s Region 1-3A Tournament. The loser’s season ends.
Greeneville drops to 19-17-1 with the loss.
Volunteer scored first in the top of the first and took control early. Jayden Ford singled and Sydney New followed with another single with one out to help Ford reach third. Ford scored on a failed rundown attempt on the third base line and made it 1-0 Volunteer before Greeneville had a chance to bat.
The Lady Devils didn’t respond until the second inning. Brooke Parsley smacked a double off the outfield fence to lead off the second. Gabby Atchison flipped the scoreboard with a 2-run home run to send Greeneville ahead 2-1.
Another run scored in the third inning with clutch two-out hitting. Brylee Tullock led off with a single and later scored with Brooke Parsley’s two-out single. Greeneville led 3-1 after three.
Volunteer stormed back in the fifth inning. Emily Walker started the inning by reaching on an error and landed on second base. Sydney New traded places with Walker and closed the gap to 3-2 with an RBI-double. Danni Guinn singled two batters later and scored New to tie it 3-3.
Both pitchers Brynlee Jones and Emily Walker locked in and didn’t allow any base runners past second base and kept each frame scoreless. Seven innings wasn’t enough to decide a winner and we reached extras after a 3-3 tie at the end of seven.
Averi Weston started the eighth with a single, but a double play looked like Greeneville would get out of the inning unscathed. Timber McLain walked and represented the go-ahead run. The unfortunate would happen as Emersyn Templeton delivered an RBI-triple to flip the momentum and give Volunteer a 4-3 lead.
The Lady Devils had a chance to tie it in the eighth, but left the runner stranded. Brooke Parsley’s hot stick never cooled off and she delivered a one-out double. A flyout and a strikeout followed and ended the game.
Greeneville fell to Volunteer, 4-3, in eight innings.
