By Michael Lindsay
The Stone Memorial Lady Panthers are headed to the region championship game and Class 3A sectional round for the first time since 2009 following Monday’s 15-5 win over DeKalb County in the Region 4-3A tournament semifinals.
Stone Memorial’s Kenzie Jackson, Cadence Cox and Alexis Jackson each hit a home run with Alexis Jackson’s coming as a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“We came out early and put some runs on the board,” said Stone Memorial head coach Brittany Bilbrey. “DeKalb did a great job of answering, and we were able to fight through that adversity and keep plugging away.”
Sophomore pitcher Kenzie Jackson earned the victory as she struck out 6 batters while allowing 2 walks and 6 hits in the 6-inning run-rule victory. Jackson helped herself at the plate as she went 4-4 with a home run, a double, 4 RBIs and 3 runs scored.
Senior Ashley Whittenburg went 3-5 with 2 doubles, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. DeKalb County shortstop Rylee Wilbur also hit a home run in the contest.
Stone Memorial struck first with three runs in the bottom of the first inning as Kenzie Jackson delivered a two-run homer over the center field fence followed by a Khloe Kindrick single to score Cadence Cox.
Kenzie Jackson tacked on another run in the bottom of the second to give Stone Memorial a 4-0 lead after two innings.
Wilbur got DeKalb County on the board in the top of the third with a solo home run, cutting her team’s deficit to 4-1 after three.
DeKalb County’s offense came to life in the top of the fourth inning as the Tigerettes scored four runs with two outs to take a 5-4 lead. A Caroline Neal fly ball forced a Stone Memorial error followed by RBI singles by Zayleigh Bain and Hannah Brown, scoring 4 runs to give the Tigerettes their 5-4 advantage going to the bottom of the fourth inning.
Stone Memorial reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth as Cox sent a two-run home run over the center field fence to give the Lady Panthers a 6-5 lead heading to the sixth inning.
After holding DeKalb County scoreless in the top-half of the frame, Stone Memorial went to work offensively in the bottom of the sixth as they scored 9 runs, including 7 with two outs.
Scarlett Smithson opened the rally with an RBI double followed by a Whittenburg grounder, scoring a run each. A Kenzie Jackson double and Karlie Overly RBI single loaded the bases for left fielder Alexis Jackson, who hit a grand slam over the center field fence to give Stone Memorial a 14-5 lead.
“One of our things this year has been ‘owning’ our at-bats,” said Bilbrey. “That was just great timing on Alexis’ part. She’s put the bat on the ball well all year, and to do that in that moment was really special.”
The Lady Panthers loaded the bases again after the grand slam, where Whittenburg delivered the walk-off single to right field to win 15-5 via run rule in 6 innings.
Stone Memorial moves on to the Region 4-3A championship game on Wednesday against Watertown. Regardless of Wednesday’s result, the Lady Panthers will play in the Class 3A sectional round later this week with a state tournament berth on the line against either Alcoa or Soddy Daisy. Sectional opponent, location and time TBD.
“It’s an emotional time and it’s big for our program,” said Bilbrey. “It’s big for softball as a whole in this county. We want to bring softball recognition back to Cumberland County, and I feel like we have a chance to do that.”
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