Dobyns-Bennett’s Hailey Porter tags out Daniel Boone’s Anna Richardson at second base in the first of two games to determine the District 1-4A softball championship.
Daniel Boone’s Ava Saul winds up to throw a pitch for a strike against Dobyns-Bennett in a 1-0 victory to force a second game for the District 1-4A softball championship.
Dobyns-Bennett’s Hailey Porter tags out Daniel Boone’s Anna Richardson at second base in the first of two games to determine the District 1-4A softball championship.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Dobyns-Bennett’s Hailey Porter tags out Daniel Boone’s Anna Richardson at second base in the first of two games to determine the District 1-4A softball championship.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Dobyns-Bennett’s Riley McMillan watches the ball travel after she hits it in the Indians’ District 1-4A championship game with Daniel Boone.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Dobyns-Bennett’s Allie McConelee lays down a bunt in the District 1-4A championship against Daniel Boone.
JEFF BIRCHFIELD / SIX RIVERS MEDIA
Daniel Boone’s Ava Saul winds up to throw a pitch for a strike against Dobyns-Bennett in a 1-0 victory to force a second game for the District 1-4A softball championship.
The last time Dobyns-Bennett’s softball team captured a district tournament title, the year was 2000 and none of the current Lady Indians were even alive.
Well, make way for a new generation, as the Tribe defeated Daniel Boone 6-3 on Saturday in the if-necessary game of the District 1-4A tournament to claim the championship. Boone forced an extra game by beating D-B 1-0 earlier Saturday afternoon.
“A good team comes back when they’re down and that’s what we did. I’m proud of them,” said D-B coach Andy Hubbard, who is the all-time winningest coach in Lady Indians history but captured his first district crown here.
D-B (28-11) will host the District 2 runner-up, Jefferson County, on Monday in the Region 1-4A semifinals while Boone (23-12) travels to face District 2 champ Morristown West.
The Tribe had the chance to wrap up the tournament title in the first game but Boone made it interesting. Lady Trailblazers catcher Kyleigh Bacon accounted for the only run in that contest on a solo home run to left in the top of the seventh inning.
That homer was the only major mistake from D-B pitcher Julianne Tipton, who came back to throw the final two innings of the if-necessary game and preserve the 6-3 lead.
“I really had to take a minute and I try to after games when I either lose or don’t play as well. I try to give myself 20 minutes where I can be as mad as I want, as rude as I want, as disrespectful and be as upset with everybody as I can be and then get over it. Because you can’t change it,” Tipton said. “You get to be upset about it, you get to grieve that loss but you don’t get to wait and have that weigh on you.”
Tipton, who is headed to Arizona State in the fall, was named tournament MVP. She compiled a 2-1 record with the save, three complete games, and notched 28 strikeouts, while allowing four total runs across her four appearances.
The Tribe came out swinging in the second game. Hailey Porter lined a single to left field on the very first pitch, later scoring on a triple by Allie McConnelee, who eventually came home on a ground out. D-B went on to plate two runs in each of the first three innings of that contest, building a 6-1 advantage. McConnelee drove in a pair of runs on a looping double in the second inning, Two errors, a sacrifice bunt, and another RBI groundout accounted for the two runs in the third.
The only Tribe player with a multi-hit performance across both contests, McConnelee also got the start in the circle, lasting five innings and allowing three runs – only one earned – on six hits and a walk.
“Allie came in and did exactly what she needed to do, which is throw outs. Not strikeouts but throw pop flies, throw ground balls,” said Mike Sweeney, the D-B pitching coach.
“I’m glad my team had the trust to have me pitch that game,” McConnelee added. “I don’t think we would have been where we were if we were down on ourselves from the last game. I’m glad we all shook it off.”
Sadie Henson and Ava Saul had two singles apiece for Boone in the second game. Trailblazers coach Jeremy Jenkins rotated Saul and Kaylea Osborne in the circle for the entire first game and the first three innings of the if-necessary game before Osborne worked the final four frames.
By that point, Saul, who pitched Boone to a 2-1 victory in Friday’s consolation bracket final win against Science Hill, had thrown more than 200 pitches in three outings in a span of less than 24 hours.
Monday’s region semifinal winners guarantee themselves at least two more games: the region final on Wednesday and a state sectional on Friday.
“That’s our goal is to try to get back to D-B Wednesday. We’ll see what we can do,” Jenkins said.
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