Summit 1 vs. Spring Hill 0
The Summit High School softball team has spent the past few weeks building equity. Now that the district tournament has arrived, the Lady Spartans appear ready to cash in. With a 1-0 victory over Spring Hill on Tuesday night at Fly Park, the No. 2-seeded Lady Spartans advanced into the District 11-AAA winner’s bracket finals. Summit will face top-seeded Dickson County — which downed Page, 5-1, in the second winner’s bracket semifinal game — on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Centennial. “We have beaten everybody in the district at least once this season, so we feel great about having the tools we need (to win the tournament),” said Summit head coach Jenny Stevenson. “We’ve played tough teams this year — both inside the district and also out of district — and I feel like we have shown that we have what it takes to do it.” Summit, which opened the tournament with a 15-5 win over Ravenwood on Monday, survived Tuesday’s one-run thriller against sixth-seeded Spring Hill on the strength of Elena Escobar’s excellent effort in the circle and Ashlyn Easley’s clutch work in the box. Escobar, a senior, earned the win by delivering 2 2/3s of dominating innings of scoreless relief, striking out seven of the eight batters she faced, and Easley, a freshman, provided the hitting heroics by driving in the game’s lone run on a sixth-inning single. “We’re super excited to get this win tonight and to be moving on in the winner’s bracket,” said Stevenson. “Two years ago, we took the long road (to the tournament finals). We lost the first game on Friday night, and had fight all the way back. So, I reminded the girls of that, and said, ‘let’s try to stay on the easier road this time.’” Lily Kate Richards opened the game in the circle for Summit and tossed four innings of no-hit ball. But Spring Hill put together three singles in the top of the fifth to load the bases with one out. Escobar then entered the game, and promptly fanned the next two batters to erase the threat. Escobar said she felt the Lady Spartans started to smell blood in the water after that big turn of events. “We are a team that really feeds off the moment,” she said. “So, (after the back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning), our momentum went from being at a good level to being at the level we needed to win the game.” Spring Hill’s Katherine Carter delivered a gem of her own, limiting Summit to five hits and compiling six strikeouts. Carter, a Jacksonville State signee, reached a milestone in the bottom of the second when she notched the 500th strikeout of her career. Escobar said she knew the Lady Spartans would have a tough assignment against the Spring Hill ace. “There is some huge competition in this tournament,” said Escobar. “Katherine Carter has been pitching amazing — so today really came down to fundamentals. It was a matter of getting our bunts down and just getting the job done as a team, not as individuals.” After being shut out through four innings, the Lady Spartans used consecutive singles from Morgan Woodside and Haley Montgomery, followed by an intentional walk to Hannah Sundberg, to load the bases for Easley, who broke open the scoreless tie with her RBI single. Escobar protected the one-run lead by retiring the side in order in the top of the seventh.
Page 1 vs. Dickson County 5
In Tuesday’s second winner’s bracket game, No. 4-seeded Page committed a series of uncharacteristic defensive miscues in the loss to top-seeded Dickson County. The Lady Patriots yielded four unearned runs in the loss. “After we made the first error, we kind of let that trickle down and turn into a couple more — and we ended up having one or two bad innings,” said Page coach Travis Polk, who serves as co-head coach with Scott McElroy. “But, on the upside, I was definitely proud of the way the girls came back and fought.” The Lady Patriots entered Tuesday’s contest with plenty of momentum, having won seven of their previous eight games. The hot streak included a dramatic 1-0 victory over Franklin in Monday’s tournament opener, when freshman Jenna Adkisson launched a solo homer to account for the game’s only run. But Page was unable to continue its surge against Dickson County. “The girls are a little down right now, which they should be,” said Polk. “But you have to have a short-term memory (in postseason play). And that’s what we told the girls after the game: It’s okay to get mad and get upset — but then you’ve got to get over it and move on. We’re a young team, and we’re growing, and we will come out ready to fight tomorrow.” Senior Josey Polk led the Page offense, going 3-for-3 with a run scored. Shelby Buffington was solid in the circle, allowing only one earned run and finishing with three strikeouts.
Franklin 2 vs. Independence 1
In Tuesday’s elimination-round action at Fly Park, Franklin’s Abby O’Hagan delivered a walk-off RBI double in the eighth inning that lifted the No. 5-seeded Lady Admirals to a 2-1 win over No. 8-seeded Independence and enabled Franklin to stay alive in the tournament. Sydney Harris scored from second on O’Hagan’s booming double to right field. “My mindset was just ‘see ball, hit ball,’” said O’Hagan. “I wanted a pitch that I could take to right field, so that I could at least move the runner.” In addition to her clutch hit, O’Hagan also earned the victory in the circle, pitching 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and finishing with seven strikeouts. Harris opened the game in the circle and worked 4 2/3 effective innings to help the Lady Admirals maintain their postseason pulse. “The girls knew that — if they didn’t play well — this could be the last game of the season, and for our five seniors, the last games of their career,” said Franklin coach Karen Whidby. “So, they were definitely motivated. And especially after not having a season last year (because of COVID), they wanted to give everything they’ve got and go as deep as they can.” O’Hagan said she believes the tournament is wide open, based on the parity that was shown throughout the regular season in the district. “Going into the tourney, we felt like all the teams are pretty much at the same level,” she said, “so you know that you just have to be 100 percent on your game — both on offense and defense. Today’s win was big, and now we just have to carry this momentum over into tomorrow.”
Other Results:
In other consolation district tournament action at Centennial, Brentwood emerged after a 13-2 loss to Spring Hill Monday. The No. 3 Lady Bruins defeated the ninth-seeded Lady Cougars 6-3 to stay alive. Centennial posted a 3-2 win over No. 7 Ravenwood prior.
Source: Williamson Herald
