Story and Photos by Rusty Ellis
The Macon County Tigerettes got a complete-game start from Ellie Coley en route to a 4-2 win over DeKalb County in the District 7/AAA Tournament on Monday.
Coley and DeKalb County starter Kora Kilgore took turns trading scoreless innings up until the bottom of the third inning, when a Tigerettes bunt led to an errant throw to third base. This gave the Macon County a runner at third with less than two outs, and just two batters later, Coley blasted a double to give the Tigerettes a 1-0 lead.
DeKalb County answered in the top of the fourth, as Bri Murphy and Madison Martin each drove in a run to give DCHS a 2-1 lead.
Though they were unable to score in the bottom of the frame, Macon County would answer back in the fifth with a three-run inning to take a 4-2 lead. This would be all the insurance Coley needed in the circle, as she led the Tigerettes to a district tournament win over DeKalb County and clinched a spot in the district semifinals.
“It was a huge win, it’s hard to beat a team three times,” said MCHS coach Jenna Russell. “Whenever we needed to string some hits together, we did. We capitalized on their errors and mistakes, and it got us the win.”
It’s Coley’s third time seeing DeKalb County, and as her coach would go on to say, it was impressive how much success she had against the lineup with all of the experience DeKalb had against her.
“That was some of the toughest pitching I’ve seen from her,” Russell said. “For her to continue to pitch that well after pitching against them three times, I thought that was amazing. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
As far as what she wants to see carry over from this game, Russell says she wants the team to keep the same upbeat attitude they had whenever it felt like DeKalb had the momentum.
“I want the positivity and will to never give up to continue,” Russell said.
