Grizzled Lady Vikings Fight Off Grainger
BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Tennessee High softball team had water in its fuel Monday night.
Good thing it’s driving a Porsche.
Power arm Carly Compton pitched a two-hitter while striking out 15 and capped a four-run first with a two-run home run and the Vikings held on to clinch a sectional berth with a 4-2 defeat of Grainger at Rotary Park.
Tennessee High (23-4) will look to defeat David Crockett for the fifth straight time when it hosts the Pioneers (22-14) on Wednesday in the championship game. Crockett topped Greeneville, 15-4, on Monday.
Despite losing four straight to Crockett, the Vikings aren’t likely to be low on intensity Wednesday – not after sputtering past the Grizzlies (14-12), a team that was starting five freshmen and one senior.
It looked like it’d be over in a hurry. The first four Vikings batters hit safely in the first inning, an outburst that was capped by Compton’s two-run home run.
However, Grainger pitcher Alison Byrd got comfortable with her changeup, and the Vikings mustered two more hits for the rest of the game.
“She started mixing up her speeds,” Compton said. “We were trying to look for something hard and she was throwing changeups. Like I’ve always said, great teams are the ones that find ways to win when you don’t have your A-game, and that’s exactly what we do.
“Are we proud of that game? No. But we’ll take a win when we need it, and that will not happen again. That game should’ve been done in five innings, no questions asked about it.”
Kaylie Hughes and Addie Wilhoit began the game with respective singles, and both scored on ensuing batter Abby Haga’s single off the right field fence.
Compton followed by jumping on the first pitch and pulling a home run to left field.
“It was a fastball middle-away,” Compton said. “I didn’t think I was going to get anything coming in because inside is my pitch. There’s no ifs, ands or buts, that’s my pitch. So I kind’ve crowded a little bit and was looking for something hard middle-away and let my hands do the rest of the work.”
Compton’s arm did the rest. The right-handed junior struck out the side in the second and sixth innings, and whiffed two batters in each of the four odd-numbered innings.
“Carly’s a workhorse,” Tennessee High coach David Boggs said. “She’s never satisfied. That’s part of why I love having her around. You know, these girls all want to win and everything, and she falls right into our culture as far as pushing and pushing and never being satisfied and never giving up.”
Boggs wasn’t impressed with his team’s showing otherwise.
“The first inning worked out well and after that our pitch selection went downhill,” Boggs said. “We’re gonna work on that tomorrow. They know better than that. They’re more disciplined than that.
“I think we relaxed a little bit too much once we got that lead on ‘em, and they’re a scrappy ball team. If it wasn’t for that first inning it might’ve been a totally different outcome.”
Grainger took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. McKinley Mills began the game with a walk, advanced to third base thanks to a stolen base and wild pitch, and scored on a ground-ball from Byrd.
In the fourth, a leadoff walk to Jaylee Hayes led to the Grainger’s other run. Hayes was forced out at second on Kledzick’s fielder’s choice, but Kledzick stole second and kept going until she’d crossed home plate because of a throwing error and the ball getting past the outfielder on the stolen base.
“We did a good job and stole a few runs,” Williford said. “Of course, that pitcher’s phenomenal.”
Compton struck out the final two batters with rising fastballs, seemingly throwing with more velocity – surely at least 70 mph – than she had been early in the game.
“From the first to the seventh inning, I gain power instead of losing it,” Compton said. “And that goes to my workouts and my trainers and all that, because that’s the main goal. You don’t want to get weaker deeper in ballgames.”
Obviously, Compton didn’t need a lot of web gems behind her, but Wilhoit provided one with diving catch at shortstop.
“Addie’s an absolute baller,” Compton said.
Tennessee High leadoff batter Kaylie Hughes was 2-for-3 with a sharply hit ground-out. Compton was 1-for-2 with the home run, a walk and two RBIs. Lily Ware was 1-for-3 with a line-out.
Byrd allowed six hits and two walks while striking out three for Grainger. After the shaky start, she allowed two hits and two walks against the final 21 batters.
“She never gets too high or too low,” Williford said. “She’s our only senior, a competitor, and that first inning is on me. I called too many fastballs, in my opinion. Her changeup’s her best pitch. It really keeps people off balance.”
Boggs is thrilled to have secured a berth in the Sweet 16 – “That’s big, and we’re excited about it,” he said – but he isn’t thrilled about having to beat Crockett yet again to secure a home game.
“We’ll be playing Crockett for the fifth time on Wednesday,” he said. “It gets harder to beat ‘em every time we play ‘em. They’re well coached. …
“I think we just got complacent today. We got cinder blocks in our shoes. We’ll fix it. I’ve got faith in ‘em. They’ll come back and get it right.”
Grainger – Allison Byrd and Macey Spanger; Tennessee High – Carly Compton and Abby Haga. W – Carly Compton, L - Allison Byrd. 2B – Addie Wilhoit, Tennessee High. HR – Carly Compton, Tennessee High (one on in 1st). RBI – Carly Compton, Tennessee High 2; Abby Haga, Tennessee High 2. SB – Grainger 3 (McKinley Mills 2, Amandz Kledzik), Tennessee High 1 (Kaylie Hughes).
Good thing it’s driving a Porsche.
Power arm Carly Compton pitched a two-hitter while striking out 15 and capped a four-run first with a two-run home run and the Vikings held on to clinch a sectional berth with a 4-2 defeat of Grainger at Rotary Park.
Tennessee High (23-4) will look to defeat David Crockett for the fifth straight time when it hosts the Pioneers (22-14) on Wednesday in the championship game. Crockett topped Greeneville, 15-4, on Monday.
Despite losing four straight to Crockett, the Vikings aren’t likely to be low on intensity Wednesday – not after sputtering past the Grizzlies (14-12), a team that was starting five freshmen and one senior.
It looked like it’d be over in a hurry. The first four Vikings batters hit safely in the first inning, an outburst that was capped by Compton’s two-run home run.
However, Grainger pitcher Alison Byrd got comfortable with her changeup, and the Vikings mustered two more hits for the rest of the game.
“She started mixing up her speeds,” Compton said. “We were trying to look for something hard and she was throwing changeups. Like I’ve always said, great teams are the ones that find ways to win when you don’t have your A-game, and that’s exactly what we do.
“Are we proud of that game? No. But we’ll take a win when we need it, and that will not happen again. That game should’ve been done in five innings, no questions asked about it.”
Kaylie Hughes and Addie Wilhoit began the game with respective singles, and both scored on ensuing batter Abby Haga’s single off the right field fence.
Compton followed by jumping on the first pitch and pulling a home run to left field.
“It was a fastball middle-away,” Compton said. “I didn’t think I was going to get anything coming in because inside is my pitch. There’s no ifs, ands or buts, that’s my pitch. So I kind’ve crowded a little bit and was looking for something hard middle-away and let my hands do the rest of the work.”
Compton’s arm did the rest. The right-handed junior struck out the side in the second and sixth innings, and whiffed two batters in each of the four odd-numbered innings.
“Carly’s a workhorse,” Tennessee High coach David Boggs said. “She’s never satisfied. That’s part of why I love having her around. You know, these girls all want to win and everything, and she falls right into our culture as far as pushing and pushing and never being satisfied and never giving up.”
Boggs wasn’t impressed with his team’s showing otherwise.
“The first inning worked out well and after that our pitch selection went downhill,” Boggs said. “We’re gonna work on that tomorrow. They know better than that. They’re more disciplined than that.
“I think we relaxed a little bit too much once we got that lead on ‘em, and they’re a scrappy ball team. If it wasn’t for that first inning it might’ve been a totally different outcome.”
Grainger took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. McKinley Mills began the game with a walk, advanced to third base thanks to a stolen base and wild pitch, and scored on a ground-ball from Byrd.
In the fourth, a leadoff walk to Jaylee Hayes led to the Grainger’s other run. Hayes was forced out at second on Kledzick’s fielder’s choice, but Kledzick stole second and kept going until she’d crossed home plate because of a throwing error and the ball getting past the outfielder on the stolen base.
“We did a good job and stole a few runs,” Williford said. “Of course, that pitcher’s phenomenal.”
Compton struck out the final two batters with rising fastballs, seemingly throwing with more velocity – surely at least 70 mph – than she had been early in the game.
“From the first to the seventh inning, I gain power instead of losing it,” Compton said. “And that goes to my workouts and my trainers and all that, because that’s the main goal. You don’t want to get weaker deeper in ballgames.”
Obviously, Compton didn’t need a lot of web gems behind her, but Wilhoit provided one with diving catch at shortstop.
“Addie’s an absolute baller,” Compton said.
Tennessee High leadoff batter Kaylie Hughes was 2-for-3 with a sharply hit ground-out. Compton was 1-for-2 with the home run, a walk and two RBIs. Lily Ware was 1-for-3 with a line-out.
Byrd allowed six hits and two walks while striking out three for Grainger. After the shaky start, she allowed two hits and two walks against the final 21 batters.
“She never gets too high or too low,” Williford said. “She’s our only senior, a competitor, and that first inning is on me. I called too many fastballs, in my opinion. Her changeup’s her best pitch. It really keeps people off balance.”
Boggs is thrilled to have secured a berth in the Sweet 16 – “That’s big, and we’re excited about it,” he said – but he isn’t thrilled about having to beat Crockett yet again to secure a home game.
“We’ll be playing Crockett for the fifth time on Wednesday,” he said. “It gets harder to beat ‘em every time we play ‘em. They’re well coached. …
“I think we just got complacent today. We got cinder blocks in our shoes. We’ll fix it. I’ve got faith in ‘em. They’ll come back and get it right.”
Grainger | 100 | 100 | 0 | -- | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Tennessee High | 400 | x | -- | 4 | 5 | 2 |
Grainger – Allison Byrd and Macey Spanger; Tennessee High – Carly Compton and Abby Haga. W – Carly Compton, L - Allison Byrd. 2B – Addie Wilhoit, Tennessee High. HR – Carly Compton, Tennessee High (one on in 1st). RBI – Carly Compton, Tennessee High 2; Abby Haga, Tennessee High 2. SB – Grainger 3 (McKinley Mills 2, Amandz Kledzik), Tennessee High 1 (Kaylie Hughes).
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