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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
There was no one that Elizabethton Lady Cyclone head coach Ken Hardin would rather have at the plate with an opportunity to pull out a win in the bottom of the eighth inning than his shortstop Ember Jensen.

After all, Jensen had already collected a trifecta of hits including a solo home run for the Lady Cyclones’ first run in the bottom of the first inning.

Jensen got the job done and as a result, the Lady Cyclones took down neighboring Science Hill 6-5 in a barnburner of a softball contest.

After taking the early lead, the Lady Hilltoppers pulled even in the top of the third inning when A Taylor took a Madisun Pritchard fastball over the right-centerfield fence to pull the game even at 1-1.

The Lady Cyclones responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame to take a 4-1 lead.

With one out, Maely Ingram and Jensen had back-to-back singles. Maddie O’Quinn rocketed a hard-hit ball toward Lady ‘Topper pitcher J Cooper who couldn’t field the ball cleanly allowing Ingram to race home making the score 2-1.

A fielder’s choice off the bat of Pritchard retired O’Quinn at second base while Jensen took third.

Kallista Deprimo drew a walk as did Mollie Johnson bring home Jensen to give the Lady Cyclones their second run of the inning. An RBI single by Kenidy Harris scored courtesy runner Dana Holsclaw to give Elizabethton the 4-1 advantage.

The Lady Cyclones picked up a solo run in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a double off the bat of Ingram. Jensen followed with a double to pick up Ingram to make it 5-1 EHS.

Hardin’s team cruised up until the top of the seventh when Science Hill put together a rally to pull even at 5-5.

Elizabethton was unable to score in the bottom of the seventh while the Cyclone defense was tough in the top of the eighth to set up Jensen’s heroics.

Harris led off the bottom of the eighth with a single with courtesy runner Emma Pendagrass coming in to run for Harris. Cheyenne Poiroux laced a single which pushed Pendagrass to second.

With one out, Ingram was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Jensen stepped to the dish and hit a stinger toward second base allowing Pendagrass to race home.

Pritchard continued to rack them up and sit them down as the junior recorded 10 more strikeouts on the day while giving up the five runs.

Ingram, Harris, Maddie O’Quinn, and Pritchard added two hits apiece in the contest.