by Rusty Ellis
Red Boiling Springs Vs. Pickett County, Clarkrange
The Red Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs advanced in the District 7-A Tournament with their 12-2 win over Pickett County and 6-4 win over Clarkrange in the Loser Bracket.
After Pickett County tied the game up at 2-2 with Addy Lowe’s home run, RBS managed to pull away and put the game away with a big sixth inning that saw them hit the 10-run mercy rule.
In their second game of the evening, Clarkrange took an early 1-0 lead on Katelyn Cottle’s grounder to centerfield, but RBS quickly answered back with three runs in the bottom of the frame. This inning was highlighted by Alleigh Davenport’s two-run double, as the Lady Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead.
Both teams traded runs in the second inning, and after the Lady Buffaloes got a run back on an RBI double from Cottle in the fifth, RBS extended their lead to the biggest of the game at 6-3 with a three-run bottom-half of the inning. Sara Link contributed the big hit of the inning this time, as her two-run inside-the-park home run gave Red Boiling Springs a 6-3 lead.
The Lady Buffaloes battled and scratched across one more run in the top of the seventh on Kadey Sells’ RBI single, but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the deficit and Red Boiling Springs advanced in the district tournament with a 6-4 victory.
Gordonsville Vs. Clay County
The Clay County Lady Bulldogs used a gritty start from Baylor Walden in the circle to hang tough with Gordonsville, but the Tigerettes broke through late in a 5-1 victory to remain in the Winner Bracket.
Gordonsville drew first blood in the bottom of the second, as a dropped third strike to Callie Dillard allowed Camri Johnson to score from third for the 1-0 lead.
From there however, Walden held the Tigerettes off the scoreboard and gave the Lady Bulldogs a chance to tie the game until the bottom of the fourth. There, Kailey Plumlee’s three-run home run pushed the advantage to 5-0 and while Clay was able to get a run back on a wild pitch in the fifth, Plumlee’s dominance in the circle proved to be too much in a 5-1 win.
For the game, Plumlee finished with a complete game one-run outing that included 20 strikeouts and seven walks with no hits allowed to earn the win.
Walden finished with six innings pitched, giving up five runs (four earned) on four hits, five walks and eight strikeouts.
Gordonsville advances to the District 7-A Championship, where they await the winner of RBS-Clay County. The final Loser Bracket game is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 P.M.
