Lady Raiders rout Shelbyville
B
Four and a half innings was all Coffee County softball needed to pick up a district win Tuesday night.
Hosting Shelbyville, the Lady Raiders got on the board early but exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the fourth to seal an 11-1 victory over the Golden Eaglettes. This was also the team’s second straight district win, following Monday’s 15-0 road shutout of Cookeville.
Scoreless after one inning, Coffee County got on the board in the bottom of the second when Yeidy Cruz drove in Maggie Montgomery from second base on a line drive. The Lady Raiders added to their lead in the bottom of the third inning when Bailey Hale ran home from second on a line drive from Lily Norman.
Shelbyville was able to cut the lead to 2-1 in the top of the fourth, but Coffee County went on to answer in the bottom of the inning.
Taylor McBride got it started with a line drive double to bring Raelyn Wainwright home. McBride scored not long after on a ground ball to center field from Cara Newlin, pushing the Coffee County lead to 4-1. The Lady Raiders went on to add three straight runs on three straight at-bats to make it a 7-1 game.
Coffee County continued to push ahead from there, adding four more runs before the inning’s conclusion to build a 10-run lead.
Norman followed up with three more strikeouts in the top of the fifth inning to bring the game to a close.
Coffee County finished with 13 hits, led by Norman with three. Montgomery and McBride followed right behind with two hits each. Newlin, Cruz, Wainwright, Ella Arnold, Kenzie Shelton and Haleigh Skipper each had one.
The Lady Raiders were also credited with 10 RBI, including two each for Arnold, Norman and McBride. Newlin, Shelton, Montgomery and Cruz each had one.
Norman made her presence felt in the circle as well, striking out 12 and holding Shelbyville to two hits, one run and one walk over the course of the game.
Coffee County (9-8, 2-1 district) travels to Madison, Ala. Friday to take part in the Bob Jones Tournament. The Lady Raiders will open the day with a 2 p.m. game against Hatton (Town Creek, Ala.), before facing off against Lawrence County (Moulton, Ala.) at 3:45 p.m.
Coffee County will resume district play on the road against Warren County at 7 p.m. next Tuesday.
