Junior Lady Cyclones cannot hold lead, fall to Lady Hawks in walk-off
Published 12:29 pm Thursday, April 18, 2024
Star Photo/Ron Marvel Lizzy Tucker hustles to first base after connecting for a base hit.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel Shortstop Kaity Gryder keeps an eye on the next batter stepping up to the plate. She finished the day 1-2 with a walk.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel Cyclones catcher Katie Wilson watches a baserunner closely at second base.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel Right fielder Maggie Tester quickly throws the ball back into the infield after fielding a single by Indian Trail.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel Laci Gobble delivers a pitch for a strike. She recorded eight strikeouts in the game.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel Head Junior Lady Cyclones Coach Taylor Shanks addresses her team after the game.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel Katie Witten demonstrates patience at the plate, drawing a walk on a full count.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel Laci Gobble prepares to swing. She finished the night with two base hits.
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Ron Marvel
Star Correspondent
It came down to the final inning Wednesday night, but the TA Dugger Lady Cyclones fell to the Indian Trail Lady Hawks 5-4 in walk-off fashion, as the Hawks would hit a double in the final frame to plate the winning run.
TA Dugger would get on the board early thanks to a second-inning double by Katie Wilson, she would be moved to third base after Kaity Gryder singled off a hard ball to second. Wilson would then smartly hustle home on a soft ground ball to the pitcher to give the Jr. Lady Cyclones a 1-0 lead. The Jr. Lady Cyclones would extend their lead to 4-0; fueled by a walk by Natalie Witten and then three base hits by Cami Dugger, Graci Shepherd, and Laci Gobble.
The Hawks would get on the board in the bottom of the third taking advantage of a couple of TA Dugger errors sandwiched around a Hawks triple to make the score 4-3. The Jr. Lady Cyclones would look to respond in the top of the fourth, but a promising start would be extinguished after a line-drive double play. Indian Trail would tie things up in the bottom of the fourth; with two out and two strikes, Ryleigh Carter would deliver a base hit to plate the tying run and make it four all.
Indian Trail would threaten again in the bottom of the fifth but with runners at second and third; Laci Gobble would strike out two batters to get out of the jam. After a quiet sixth inning by the Jr. Lady Cyclones. The Hawks would get runners on with back-to-back singles before the decisive double would end the game.
Laci Gobble would finish with two hits Madison Barnett would also pick up a hit in the game. Gobble took the hard-luck loss in the game she would go six innings giving up just one earned run off five hits while striking out eight. Post-game head coach Taylor Shanks talked about what she needs to see out of her squad with the tournament looming “I see improvement every day, I think this is going to come down to grit when you have errors you have to bear down, and just focus on getting the next out, you can’t get in your heads and get down” Shanks shared.
The (5-6) TA Dugger softball team will next travel to Greenville for a Friday night game at 5 pm.
