BRISTOL, Tenn. – The End Times might be near – Carly Compton allowed an earned run against an Upper Lakes Conference opponent.
Of course, the Tennessee High ace was still dominant while the Vikings defeated David Crockett, 5-1, in the winners’ bracket final of the District 1-AAA tournament on Tuesday at Rotary Park.
Tennessee High (21-4) clinched a region berth and will play tomorrow’s David Crockett-Elizabethton winner on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the championship. Crockett will play Elizabethton at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Cyclones eliminated Unicoi County with a 12-4 victory in a game played on the adjacent field at the same time Crockett and Tennessee High were deciding the district’s first of two region berths.
Compton, a junior right-hander that’s committed to North Carolina, allowed one unearned run while propelling Tennessee High to an undefeated run through the Upper Lakes Conference. The Vikings outscored league foes 56-1 during the regular season.
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Compton struck out nine while pitching a four-hitter against Crockett.
“It wasn’t my A-game today,” Compton said. “It was one of those nights where I had to figure out a way to win. I’m coming off being sick for a week and other stuff, but I knew coming in that I had to do my job and the defense really played well for me.”
Compton (18-1) entered the game with a 0.22 ERA.
“She’d dependable, works hard,” Tennessee High coach David Boggs said. “She’s very humble. A lot of times she’ll take credit for my mistakes.
“She’s just a heck of a ballplayer. She has a lot of fire and she keeps everybody fired up. It’s just a real blessing to have her on the team.”
Compton helped her cause by going 2-for-2 with a home run, and she was hit by a pitch. She singled to lead off the bottom of the second and scored on Lily Ware’s two-out single to center field.
Kaylie Hughes hit a solo home run with two out in the third to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead, and Compton expanded the lead to three when she led off the bottom of the fourth with the home run against promising Crockett freshman left-hander Madelyn Dulaney.
“She tried to throw me a screwball and that’s my pitch,” Compton said. “So I just turned on it.”
Compton was once again impressed with Dulaney, who allowed three earned runs, six hits and a walk while striking out eight in five innings.
“She earned my respect from Day One,” Compton said.
Crockett cut the Vikings’ lead to 3-1 in the top of the fifth. Eva Marler lined a one-out double to left-center field to score Molly Davis, who was running for Chelsea Williams.
Tennessee High basically put it out of reach with two in the fifth. Kaylie Hughes doubled with one out, Addie Wilhoit followed with a walk and Compton was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs.
Maddi Hall came through with a two-run single to center.
Hughes finished 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and an RBI.
“Kaylie struggled for just a little while at the plate, but being the trooper she is, she worked hard and battled through it,” Boggs said. “It started coming back about a week and a half ago, and she’s back on fire now. And when she’s right, she’s tough to handle.”
Autumn Wynn was 2-for-3 for Crockett.
“Autumn had half our hits tonight,” Crockett coach Alex Dulaney said. “She did not have a good first at-bat. I was really proud of her resolve after that. She went up there with a better mindset and got a couple of hits.”
Wynn led off the fifth with a line-drive single to left field and Chelsea Williams followed with a walk. A passed ball put runners at first and third, and Crockett was threatening to make a game of it when a double steal went awry.
The Vikings got a strikeout/threw-‘em-out double play to stunt the rally. Alex Dulaney appeared to argue for obstruction on the caught stealing at home plate on the return throw from the middle infielder.
“We made an aggressive play and that call did not go our way,” Dulaney said. “That’s about all I can say about that.”
Ware was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Wilhoit walked twice and scored a run.
Dulaney was 1-for-3 with a line-out.
Crockett defeated Elizabethton, 5-2, on Monday. The Pioneers will have to beat it again to extend the season.
“We had a good tight one with them Monday,” Alex Dulaney said. “[Lela] Byrd threw really well. We’ve been able to beat her a couple of times. But honestly, we thought her velocity would help us get ready for Carly a little better.
“The thing about Tennessee High is we’ve played better each time that we’ve played ‘em. … Honestly, for us to be able to keep Compton to single-digit strikeouts was good. Not a lot of teams have been able to do that. Hopefully we’ll do well tomorrow and see ‘em again.”
Unicoi County eliminated Sullivan East with an 18-0 victory before having its season end against Elizabethton. The Blue Devils answered the Cyclones’ four-run first with a four-run first of their own. But the hits kept coming for Elizabethton.
“We came out swinging the bats against East,” Unicoi County coach Abby Hensley said. “We came out ready to play. We came back with four runs against Elizabethton (in the first). That gave us the momentum. But Elizabethton’s a great hitting team.”
Unicoi County had five seniors: Kynzie Jones, Emma Jones, Faith Bennett, Kylee Hensley, Katlyn Nelson.
Sullivan East will graduate seven seniors: Olivia Ashbrook, Carly Bradford, Madyson Doss, Berkley Helbert, Shelbie Leffew, Brooklyne Loudy and Jade Sanders.
“Softball is such a grueling season,” East coach Michael Forrester said. “It takes true dedication to stick with it for four years. Our seven seniors have been wonderful representatives of our school on the field, in the classroom and in the community. I’m proud of who they are and I’m forever grateful to have been their coach.”
David Crockett 000 010 0 -- 1 4 1
Tennessee High 011 120 x -- 5 7 0
Dulaney, Wilson (3), Dulaney (4) and Williams. Compton and Haga. W— Compton (18-1). L—Dulaney. HR—Kaylie Hughes (THS), 3rd, none on; Compton (THS), 4th, none on.