Summit 1 vs. Dickson County 0
For 8 1/2 innings Wednesday night, the Dickson County and Summit High School softball teams proved why they entered the District 11-AAA tournament as the top two seeds out of the regular season. The two opened the winner’s bracket final at Centennial High School expecting the game to come down to the first team to flinch. It did. Dickson County flinched and Summit jumped on the Lady Cougars to take a 1-0 victory in nine innings and advance to the tourney finals Friday. Both teams were near flawless from the circle and the field for the first eight innings before the Lady Spartans Hannah Sundberg jumped on a Ashlan Sensing pitch, sending the ball to the fence in left field and Sundberg to second. Two batters later, with two out, Dixie Corbin hit a low, short pop-up between the rubber and the plate that a diving Sensing dove for but could not get under. She came up firing to first, but the throw went wide, sending the runner at second home for the score. Dickson County tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the frame. Sensing reached on a throwing error and Octavia Perry ripped a single to center field. But two batters later Libbie Wilson nailed a line drive that Morgan Woodside snagged at short and fired a rocket back to first, catching Perry off the bag and ending the contest after nearly three hours of play. The win buys Summit a day off on Thursday before facing the winner of the consolation bracket for the title Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Centennial. Dickson County will play again on Friday in a 5:30 p.m. contest with the winner of Thursday’s 5:30 p.m. elimination game between Brentwood and Franklin.
Brentwood 3 vs. Page 2
Three timely hits in the bottom of the sixth inning propelled Brentwood one line deeper in District 11-AAA consolation Wednesday afternoon as the Lady Bruins stopped Page 3-2 at Centennial High School. With a game that was squarely knotted at 1-1 since the second inning, Morgan Salmon led off the sixth with a single and advanced to third on Indy Cockrill’s single. Cockrill applied more pressure, stealing second. Lady Bruin pitcher Emily Cockrill, who had battled with Page freshman Shelby Buffington all day in the circle, followed with a slicing single to right field that scored both Salmon and Indy Cockrill. Emily Cockrill sandwiched a walk and stolen base by Josey Polk with a pop-up and her fifth strike out of the game before the Lady Patriots made a last stand. Tia Atkinson singled to move Polk to third, who scored on Sophia Cuevas’ single. With runners at first and second, Buffington stroked a slow roller to short and it looked like trouble before Salmon scooped up the ball and dove on the second base bag, inches before Cuevas’ arrival to end the contest. The win sets up another elimination game on Thursday at Centennial between Brentwood and Franklin, a winner over Spring Hill on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. The winner will take on Dickson County Friday at Centennial for the final berth in the Region 6-AAA tourney next week.
Brentwood 4 vs. Franklin 3
The next to last elimination game in the District 11-AAA softball tournament had everything one might expect with no tomorrow for one team, strong pitching, clutch hits, nervous mistakes, high drama, and – in the end – joy and heartbreak between the lines. Thursday afternoon’s game at Centennial High School's field had all of it, right down to the joyous Brentwood Lady Bruins, who captured a dramatic 4-3 win over a heartbroken Franklin squad. The Lady Admirals trailed 4-1 going into the top of the seventh but refused to quit. Brentwood’s Emily Cockrill opened with a strike out before Caroline Willis drilled a long ball to left field that was easily handled by Tabbi Daech. One out from going home, Sydney Harris blasted a double deep down the left field line and scored when Abby O’Hagan followed with a double to center. Carlyn Atamaniuk reached on a throwing error and scampered to second, sending O’Hagan across the plate. But the comeback stopped there, as Cockrill regained her composure, coaxing the final batter of the contest into a slow roller back to the circle and picking up the assist on the last out. Both teams appeared tired and tight early. Harris led off with a single for Franklin in the first and scored on an error and sacrifice bunt. In the bottom half of the opening stanza, Emily Cockrill used a single, a stolen base, a wild pitch and an error to knot the score. The Lady Bruins got their biggest lead in the bottom of the third when Maddie Mason ripped a double and scored when Morgan Salmon added a two-bagger after Kate Workman’s sac bunt. Salmon then scored on a Franklin error. Brentwood added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with a bit of déjà vu. Emily Cockrill led off with a single – as she had in the first – scoring with a stolen base, sac bunt and Franklin error. The middle part of the game was dominated by the pitchers, with Franklin’s O’Hagan and Brentwood’s Cockrill finding the corners when they needed. O’Hara fanned nine in the contest, while Cockrill had three Ks but kept the Lady Admirals off-guard, hitting ground balls. Brentwood will face Dickson County at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Centennial in the consolation finals. The winner earns a berth in next week’s Region 6-AAA tournament and will play Summit for the District 11-AAA championship at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Williamson Herald
