By Michael Lindsay
The Cookeville Lady Cavaliers opened the week in the win column as they defeated the visiting DeKalb County Tigerettes on Monday, 6-2.
“We bounced back from a tough weekend really well,” said Cookeville head coach Jordan Webb. “DeKalb is tough, so it was good for us to get up on them early.”
Lady Cav pitcher Madison Lancaster recorded the victory in the circle as she struck out 5 batters while surrendering 6 hits, 1 walk and 2 earned runs.
“Madison has been pitching fantastic all year long,” said Webb. “She’s been so consistent. Behind her, we played very good defense. I’m super happy with the pitching and defense. The offense is going to come and go, but they say pitching and defense wins championships.”
Kylie Kleppin led Cookeville offensively as the third baseman went 2-4 with 2 RBIs, a triple and a run scored. Kadie Presley also recorded 2 RBIs while Laylah Turner went 2-3 with an RBI.
Cookeville opened the contest with two runs in the bottom of the first inning as a Kleppin triple scored Presley followed by a two-out single by Turner to score Kleppin, giving the Lady Cavaliers a 2-0 lead after one.
“Those are those big situations that are really key, and they’re huge confidence boosters, too,” said Webb on the two-out hitting.
DeKalb County pulled within a run in the top of the second inning as a Raylie Cowan single scored Bri Murphy, making the score 2-1 going into the bottom of the second inning.
Cookeville kept the bats going in the second as they scored three runs in the frame to take a 5-0 advantage. A Presley grounder resulted in a DeKalb error to score Gabbi Romero and Martin followed by a Kleppin ground-out to score Presley.
The Lady Cavs tacked on a run in the bottom of the third as a Martin ground-out scored Romero to give Cookeville a 6-1 lead.
A Murphy sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning scored Bryna Pelham to cut Cookeville’s lead to 6-2, but the Tigerettes got to closer as Cookeville closed out their four-run victory to improve to 13-6 overall.
Cookeville is scheduled to host LaVergne on Tuesday and Lebanon Thursday, weather permitting. DeKalb County falls to 10-5 overall and is scheduled to play at District 7-3A foe White County on Tuesday followed by another road district game at Cumberland County on Thursday.
