BY NIC MILLER

STAR CORRESPONDENT

BLUFF CITY— The Lady Warriors were back in action Thursday night at Sullivan East High School as they took on the Sullivan South Lady Rebels in the first round of the District 1-AA softball tournament.

The Lady Rebels performance on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball aided them in their 6-0 shutout victory over Happy Valley.

In the top of the first inning, the Lady Warriors weren’t able to get anything to go their way as the first three batters in the order were all sat down on ground ball outs.

After a single by Mack Compton of South, the Lady Rebels’ early scoring hopes were halted after three straight outs from Happy Valley.

The second inning for the Lady Warriors seemed to be a repeat of the first as they once again couldn’t get a ball out of the infield.

The Lady Rebels, on the other hand, got things going in the home half with an RBI double by Macy Ellis followed by another run brought in on a ground out to second base turning the ball game into a 2-0 affair.

Happy Valley’s long night was only beginning as for the third straight inning Happy Valley was sent back to the dugout without putting a runner on base.

After a successful hitting performance in the second, the Lady Rebel’s success came grinding to a halt after getting only one runner to reach base in the bottom half of the third.

Olivia Absher was able to break the barrier in the top of the fourth and get the first hit of the night for Happy Valley.

However, this would be the only hit of the inning for the Lady Warriors as the next three batters were sat down in order.

The fourth inning was also a quiet one for South as they were given a taste of their own medicine when the first three batters of the inning were called out consecutively.

Just as it had happened all night, the Lady Warriors weren’t able to get any good luck in the fifth inning as they were once again sent back to the dugout in one-two-three fashion.

In a game that had been a defensive battle to this point, the Lady Rebels finally decided to kick things into gear when Nicole Troutman hit a single to right field that brought Compton across to score.

The scoring didn’t stop there, however, as Allison Chapman hit a moon shot that brought her and two runners around the diamond to score making the game a 6-0 advantage in favor of the Lady Rebels.

With three outs to make something happen, the Lady Warriors were trying to avoid a first-round loss in the tournament.

Happy Valley wasn’t able to find an open spot in the field after able to get one Lady Warrior on base.

With this shutout win, the Lady Rebels handed Happy Valley their first loss of the tournament by a score of 6-0.

With their backs now against the wall, the Lady Warriors were hoping to keep their tournament dreams alive as they took on the Sullivan Central Lady Cougars Friday evening at Sullivan East.