by Rusty Ellis
Momentum swung back-and-forth in Baxter on Thursday evening, as the Macon County Tigerettes earned a 5-4 win over district rival Upperman.
The Lady Bees got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning, as a ground-ball from Ava Latta was misplayed and turned into the game’s first run. Upperman added another run on a Khloe Garrett fielder’s choice, as the Lady Bees took an early 2-0 lead.
Macon answered right back in the top of the third however, as Macy Meador knocked in the first run of the game for the visitors with an RBI single. Addison Woodard added an RBI of her own on a bunt to knot the score up, before another run came across on an RBI single for a Macon County lead.
The lead didn’t last for long however, as Kira Hancock tied the game up with a solo home run in the bottom of the third. Meador then knocked in another run for the Tigerettes to give them a 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth, and the lead would stay that way until the bottom of the fifth inning.
There, Reece Kimmell delivered an RBI single to right to tie the game at 4-4 as the game hit the later innings.
Neither team scored in the sixth, and after a pair of great at-bats to start the seventh, Macon’s Ellie Coley drove in the game-winning run with an RBI fielder’s choice.
Coley then proceeded to shut down the Lady Bee bats in the bottom of the inning to finish off the 5-4 win for the Tigerettes.
“It’s a huge win, especially considering that’s the girls’ personal rival,” said head coach Jenna Russell. “The biggest thing was we didn’t fold, sometimes our errors can snowball into bigger innings, but they stayed mentally tough and that’s why they won.”
Ellie Coley finished with the win in the circle, as she pitched a complete game featuring three strikeouts and just the four runs allowed for Macon County.
The senior has earned the trust of her coach, and Russell was proud of the effort she put together on Thursday.
“She’s been the definition of a senior leader,” Russell said. “She’s been a true senior and has shown that leadership all year. We let her call her own pitches because she knows what she’s got working and we’ve got confidence in her.”
Up next for Macon County will be White County on April 18, while Upperman will face Clay County in Celina on Friday.
