KINGSPORT — Ava Saul continued her dominance for Daniel Boone on Saturday by tossing a no-hitter against Honaker in the Eastman Invitational.
Her heroics led the Lady Trailblazers to a 10-0 win to open Saturday’s pool play.
“I thought (Saul) had all of her pitches going for strikes,” Boone coach Jeremy Jenkins said. “She did a good job getting ahead of batters.”
Most of Saul’s run support came in the fourth inning, when the Lady 'Blazers struck for five runs. After the first out, the next four batters reached, bringing in one run. Then a fielder’s choice and some smart baserunning by Riley Croley scored a pair before a Honaker defensive miscue brought in two more.
Taylor Brinn had a pair of hits in three at-bats for Daniel Boone, and Croley scored three runs along with two hits.
“We had runners on, we didn’t do a good job of executing early on,” Jenkins said. “We put the ball in play, forced them to make plays. They helped us some, but I think we barreled some balls up.”
The floodgates opened for the Lady 'Blazers in the fifth when they plated four runs before recording an out, completing the run-rule victory.
Wise Central 2, David Crockett 1
Runs were hard to come by in the afternoon pitchers’ duel. Lady Warriors starter Hannah Salyer allowed only two hits and one unearned run.
“Hannah hit her spots, she did a really good job today,” Wise Central coach Allison Shortt said. “Her screwball was working really well.”
The Lady Warriors scratched across their first run in the second courtesy of a single from Sophie Carter. However, despite putting a pair of runners on after the base hit, that was the only run scored in the frame.
Central retook the lead in the fourth on a wild baserunning play. Salyer, at second base, got caught in a rundown between second and third. As Crockett threw the ball around in the pickle, the ball eventually got away, allowing Salyer to score.
“We’ve just got to refocus and know what we hit well and leave the rest of it,” Shortt said of her team’s offense.
The Lady Pioneers pitching was just as tough. Neither Cara Wilson nor Madelyn Dulaney allowed an earned run across six innings.
Shortt said the win can be a big confidence boost for her young team.
“It helps us moving forward,” she said. “Our goals now turn to the Mountain 7. They did a good job, they held on.”
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