Region 1-AA Championship: Unicoi’s Miller leads Blue Devils past Elizabethton
Published 12:11 am Thursday, May 17, 2018
Beating a good team three times in a row is quite the feat.
And the Elizabethton Lady Cyclones fell short as Unicoi won 5-2 for the Region 1-AA championship Wednesday. The Lady Blue Devils’ victory comes after Elizabethton swept Unicoi in a district championship doubleheader last week.
The Lady Cyclones faced slow production at the plate for most of the night before a Lauren Brickey solo homerun pepped up the home stands in the sixth inning. Brickey’s homer was followed up by Kira Dillard taking advantage of Unicoi errors as she turned a single into a little-league home run, narrowing Unicoi’s lead to 4-2.
“We didn’t hit it tonight like we have been,” said Elizabethton head coach Ken Hardin. “It just wasn’t our night at the plate. I am still proud of the kids. They have had a great year, and it is not over yet. We have a chance down there (at Gibbs), we just have to go in with the right mentality.”
The Lady Blue Devils scored an insurance run in the top of the seventh as Unicoi’s Greta Raby sprinted home from third on a well-placed bunt by teammate Halie Hawkins, giving the contest its final tally.
Unicoi’s momentum came from the bat of Lady Blue Devil Sydney Miller who produced a 3-of-4 performance with three RBIs. Miller set the tone in the top of the first with a two-run homer to give Unicoi an early 2-0 lead. The Lady Blues Devils would also get three hits from Rylee Stiltner.
The Lady Blue Devils found two more runs in the third as Miller hit an RBI triple before being brought home by teammate Tanya Chavez, who singled to center field.
At the plate, Elizabethton would be held to six hits as the Lady Cyclones faced Blue Devils pitcher Allee Griffith who had three strikeouts over seven innings of work. For Elizabethton, both Brickey and Dillard had two hits on the night.
Brickey pitched seven innings as she struck out eight Lady Blue Devils. The senior slinger finished with 11 hits against her.
The Lady Cyclones will now travel to Gibbs this Friday for a state sectional matchup with the winner going to next week’s TSSAA Spring Fling Championship and the loser going home.
Gibbs will be coming into Friday’s game off a 12-1 win over Kingston in five innings for the Region 2-AA title.
The Lady Eagles are the defending Class AAA state champions.
“I know with their tradition they are a tremendous ball club,” said Hardin. “We are a pretty good ballclub too. If we go down there to play, we will be alright.”