North Greene hosted Cloudland on Tuesday in their first District 1-1A matchup of the season and claimed a 9-4 victory to begin conference play 1-0.
“It’s always good to start 1-0 in conference so we feel really good about that. I thought we hit it good in spurts. Defense was pretty clean today, so overall I feel pretty good about it,” North Greene Head Coach Avery Weems said.
Although North Greene finished with more runs on the scoreboard, Cloudland outhit North Greene 7-to-5. The difference was walks. The Lady Huskies walked nine times and made Cloudland pay for the free bases.
Hannah Brooks pitched for North Greene and helped deliver another win to the Lady Huskies. Brooks threw a complete game in the win and allowed three earned runs and seven hits while sitting down 10 batters by way of the K.
“I thought for the most part she controlled it pretty well and was aggressive going right after them. She didn’t fall behind in the count often so that was good to see. It was a good outing,” Coach Weems stated.
Tralyn Southerland had the highlight of the game and the biggest swing of the day. Southerland hammered a towering grand slam over, not only the left field fence, but the trees in left field for her first home run in a North Greene uniform.
“It was really good to see. I was really happy for her. I know she’s worked hard for the past few days on her hitting. She got off to kind of a slow start, but we knew she’s a good hitter and knew she would figure it out,” Weems stated.
Southerland led North Greene with four RBIs and Josie Graham led with three runs and four walks. Five different players accounted for North Greene’s five hits.
North Greene improved to 3-2 (1-0) and claimed their first conference win in the process. After the conclusion of the game, Coach Weems spoke about the importance of winning the first conference contest. “
Hannah Brooks started her pitching performance in the best way possible by striking out three batters in the first inning. Brooks collected two more in the second inning and received some help in the bottom half.
Josie Graham, Tralyn Southerland, and Charlie Turnmire all walked to begin the bottom of the second. Although North Greene loaded the bases with no outs, they’d only scratch one across. Eva Leonard grounded into a fielder’s choice at second and helped Graham score.
North Greene led 1-0 after two.
They’d make up for the runners left on base in the bottom of the third. Addi Dean dropped a single into the outfield grass and Hannah Brooks reached on an error. Josie Graham walked, again, to load the bases with one out.
Tralyn Southerland smashed one of the longest home run shots over the left field fence at North Greene High School and did it in grand style for a grand slam. Southerland’s bomb helped North Greene extend the lead to 5-0.
“She was throwing mostly out when I was up there. I was chasing it and fouling it off multiple times and then I seen one right down the middle and I’m like, ‘I’ve got to take it.’”
Reagen Turbyfill led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to cut it to 5-1.
Hannah Brooks helped herself in the circle with a 2-RBI double with 2 outs in the fourth. Kinlea Eastep and Matti Phillips singled in back-to-back plate appearances and set Brooks up with the chance to bump the lead up to 7-1.
Cloudland made a small dent in the top of the sixth with an RBI-single from Khloe Johnson to make it 7-2.
North Greene did more damage in the bottom half. Addi Dean walked to lead off the inning and scored on a wild pitch. Josie Graham walked, again, and later scored on Charlie Turnmire’s hit to third that resulted in an error. The lead grew to 9-2 before Cloudland scored two more in the seventh before succumbing to their third out.
The Lady Huskies finished Tuesday night with a 9-4 win over Cloudland to claim their first District 1-1A win of the season.
“It’s super crucial just to get off to a good start and start from ahead. It’s the biggest game of the season until the next conference game, which is Thursday, so we’ve got to come back tomorrow ready to work in practice and have another good day on Thursday,” Coach Weems mentioned.
North Greene hosts University High next on Thursday at home in another District 1-1A clash. First pitch is set for 5:00 PM.
