The Bradley Central softball squad welcomed head coach Hallie Geren back to the field with a big District 6-4A victory over East Hamilton Thursday, at Bob McKenzie Field.
"'Fantastically,' that's not a word, but that's what I'll call our hitting up and down the lineup tonight," related Coach Geren, who had been on maturity leave after having her daughter at the start of the season, after the 6-2 tally to sweep the first half of the district schedule.
"Defensively we played great, just one hiccup and as soon as we had it her teammates had her back and we were right there the rest of the night.
"To go up against the teams we have been playing, and to go up against Norma (Nelson, longtime local head coach) herself and the teams she's created for us to be able to get ahead early was fantastic," she continued.
The Bearettes bounced back from a one-hit, 8-0 loss at Meigs County Wednesday, to knock out 10 hits for their half dozen runs Thursday.
"We're really excited. Every team around here is stacked and for us to up against a strong Meigs County team with their great offense and defense, pitching and hitting, and for us to come back here and face such great pitching, we adjusted early, which is something we didn't do over there (in Decatur), was good to see," stated Coach Geren, who handed out "Skittles" to players for big plays.
"If it wasn't one girl, it was the next. We had each other's backs today."
Bradley (8-10, 3-0 District 6-4A) will hit the road next week for a trio of games at Ooltewah Tuesday, Signal Mountain Wednesday and Chattanooga Christian Friday, April 12.
East Hamilton (3-4, 2-1 District 6-4A) will play five games in four days next week, hosting Hixson Tuesday, Meigs County Wednesday, before going to Ooltewah Thursday and McMinn County, for a doubleheader on Friday.
BEARETTES 6
LADY CANES 2
The Lady Hurricanes scored first Thursday evening in Cleveland, with Jada Rutley reaching on an error to open the game and stealing third before coming home on a ground out by Madilyn Evans.
Bearette freshman My'Ryah Greenwood answered immediately, blasting a 3-1 pitch over the left field wall for her first varsity homer to open the bottom of the first.
East Ham ace Yulai Woodruff responded by striking out the next half dozen Bearettes to step to the plate.
Greenwood snapped the streak of eight straight outs with a two-out double off the wall in left and then came home when junior Lynlee Hodge followed with a two-bagger to the right-center field gap in the bottom of the third.
Bradley tacked on another solo score in the fifth when Greenwood opened the at bat with an infield single and once again completed the circuit when sophomore Karly Farkas blasted a two-out double, toasting the Hurricane outfield.
The hosts sealed the victory with a 3-spot in the bottom of the sixth when sophomore Alliyssia Herbold and freshman Presleigh Sanders had back-to-back one-out singles before Greenwood reached for the fourth time with a two-out walk to jam the sacks.
All three came home when Hodge powered her second double of the game, splitting the Hurricane center and right fielders with a shot to the wall.
After having left 10 runners on base through the first six frames, East Ham's Woodruff tried to spark a final at bat rally with a one-out solo homer, but the Bearette defense shut the door on anything else.
Senior Kaitlyn Bailey went the distance in the circle for the victory, striking out four and allowing just one earned run, but she gave up seven free passes and a half dozen hits, working out of bases-loaded jams without giving up a run three times.
"We're going to start calling her "Strawberry" for strawberry jam," teased Coach Geren. "She got into some jams and worked her way out, with the help of her defense behind her."
Greenwood led the victors, reaching base four times, including her dinger and double, scoring each time.
Hodge went 2-for-4 and plated four teammates.
Gabby Printup paced the Lady Canes with a pair of hits, while Porscke reached three base thrice with a pair of walks to go with a single.
Woodruff, who struck out a dozen in a complete-game effort, also got on twice with her homer and she was hit by a pitch.
LADY TIGERS 8
BEARETTES 0
Meigs County hurler Lainey Fitzgerald went the full seven innings in the circle, striking out 14, while allowing only a single hit.
Lady Tiger Sierra Howard was 2-4 with a home run and two RBIs.
Farkas had the lone Bearette hit in the contest.
