Lady Blue Devils pushed to limit by Elizabethton
Published 8:24 am Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Star Photos/Ivan Sanders Lady Cyclone shortstop Maggie Johnson rifles a throw to first base.
Elizabethton center fielder Kira Dillard is position right under a fly ball to retire a Lady Blue Devil batter.
Freshman Madisun Pritchard deals a fastball to a Unicoi Co. batter.
Lady Cyclone Maddie O’Quinn gets under a pitch to hit the softball into the air.
Elizabethton’s Kaylen Shell hits the ball into the ground during Monday’s game against Unicoi Co.
Star Photo/ Angie Johnson Prior to the Elizabethton Lady Cyclones contest against Unicoi County on Monday, time was taken to remember two former Lady Cyclones that passed away as family members of Jessica Robinson and Brittney Eggers gathered with the current team who wanted the families to know the two players may be gone but will never be forgotten.
The Elizabethton Lady Cyclones may have taken some bumps and bruises during most of the regular season, but if the last two weeks are any indication the Lady Cyclones may be starting to head toward the peak of their season.
In a game against the regular-season champion Lady Blue Devils of Unicoi County, the Lady Cyclones were in the game until the final at-bat before dropping a tight 6-2 contest on a night where they honored two former Lady Cyclones, Jessica Robinson and Brittney Eggers, who departed this life way too soon.
The Lady Blue Devils scored a solo run in the top of the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead but the Lady Cyclones had no plans of running away and hiding.
Unicoi Co. added a third run in the top of the fifth inning before the Lady Cyclones finally broke the goose egg on their side of the scoreboard.
With one out in the fifth, Elizabethton shortstop Maggie Johnson roped a double to center field. A ground out by Maddie O’Quinn chased Johnson to third base.
Center fielder Kira Dillard smacked a two-out double to left field allowing Johnson to score the first run for the Lady Cyclones making it a 3-1 contest.
The score stayed that way until the Lady Blue Devils added four more runs to their total to give them a 6-1 cushion as the Lady Cyclones were coming to the plate in the final inning of regulation play.
Elizabethton continued to play hard as O’Quinn led off the inning with a double to right field and took third base on a passed ball.
Dillard lofted a sacrifice fly that plated O’Quinn making it a 6-2 contest.
Kaylen Shell followed with the second double of the inning for Elizabethton but the Lady Blue Devils managed to work themselves out of trouble stranding Shell with two consecutive outs to bring the game to an end.
Freshman Madisun Pritchard continued to show why she is going to have a bright future with the Lady Cyclones by pitching the complete game for Elizabethton allowing all six runs on 13 hits. Pritchard struck out four Unicoi Co. batters.
Johnson, O’Quinn, and Chloe Force had two hits apiece in the game to pace the Lady Cyclones at the plate while Dillard, Shell, Pritchard, and Haley Fair collected one hit each.
