Riverdale beats Siegel 5-3 for Stars' first 7-AAA loss

MURFREESBORO –Riverdale rattled District 7-AAA softball leader Siegel early Thursday night.

And the Lady Stars never recovered.

Riverdale handed Siegel its first league loss of the season with a 5-3 win at Lady Warrior Field to force a tie between the two 7-AAA powers with one game left in district play.

Siegel made four errors — uncharacteristic of a Lady Stars defense that has thrived this season.

"We had a couple of mental miscues and did things we don't normally do," Siegel coach Perry Lyons said. "Hopefully, we will get them corrected."

Siegel (26-3, 10-1) hosts Oakland (19-11-1, 6-5) Tuesday. Riverdale (27-8, 10-1) hosts Blackman at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Riverdale owns the tiebreaker if the teams finish tied for first, but the Lady Warriors wouldn't earn a berth to the region. A team must win the regular season outright to get that.

Riverdale scored three runs in the second, scoring the last two on pitcher Veronica Westfall's throwing error to the plate on Brooklyn Pendergrast's bunt.

Baylee Bates' single scored courtesy runner Caymen Starwalt, who was running for Brooke McClure who had singled. Alexis Castleman and Bates then scored on Pendergrast's one-out bunt. Westfall fielded the play and tossed it over catcher KaraLynne Levi, scoring Mattie Moeller and Bates.

Riverdale added a run in the third when Castleman scored on a throwing error that got past third base and went into left field.

"I think sometimes when you score first, it puts pressure on the other team," Riverdale coach Christy Bingham said. "It just makes the defense think all of the time."

But Siegel countered with a run in the top of the fourth when MacKenzie McMahan reached on an error and later scored on Savannah Hughes' sacrifice fly.

Riverdale added a run in the fourth when Pendergrast singled and later scored on Eleiyah Wade's throwing error.

Riverdale finished with five hits. The Lady Warriors had a pair of potennial home runs go foul, including one by McClure that landed a foot foul. And Chattanooga State signee Mattie Woodruff had a double go off the wall in right-center field.

"I think we were more relaxed and just knew what to expect," Woodruff said. "We wanted to go out and hit her. Most of the time she just threw outside, so we were expecting it.

"Seeing her the first time, and knowing we didn't hit much, we wanted to hit her this time."

Siegel loaded the bases with one out in the seventh. Ciera Purvis' fly ball scored Hughes to trim it to 5-3. But McMahan's line drive went to centerfielder Emily Burns to end the game. Burns made two standout plays in the outfield — a sliding catch in the third and a running snag to start a double play in the fourth.

"We just had to relax, and keep my pitches in the right location," said Riverdale ace Caroline Faulkner, a Chattanooga State signee, of the bases-loaded jam. "I just had to make sure I hit my spots like I had been doing."

Contact Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 or tkreager@dnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kreager.

Riverdale 5, Siegel 3

Siegel 000 100 2 – 3 9 4

Riverdale 031 100 x – 5 5 1

Veronica Westfall and KaraLynne Levi. Caroline Faulkner and Brooke McClure. WP: Faulkner. LP: Westfall.

DISTRICT 7-AAA STANDINGS

Thursday's Scores

Riverdale 5, Siegel 3

Oakland 16, Blackman 1

Smyrna 6, La Vergne 2