KINGSPORT — Julianne Tipton threw her second straight no-hitter, and her Dobyns-Bennett teammates kept figuratively knocking the cover off the ball Wednesday for the first-ever region championship at Indian Highland Park.
The Lady Indians won 10-0 over Morristown West in five innings in the Region 1-4A championship game. It was the same result as Monday’s semifinal win over Jefferson County.
Dobyns-Bennett coach Andy Hubbard talked about his team’s second straight dominant performance.
“We’ve never won the region,” he said. “We’ve never hosted a sub-state game. Hopefully, we can get one more and get to the state.
“Julianne, she’s a gamer. She’s hard-nosed and she’s tough. She’s got a great work ethic and a great attitude. I’m super proud of all of them.”
Dobyns-Bennett (30-11) will host Region 2-4A runner-up Farragut (30-7) in Friday’s sectional round at 5:30 p.m. with a state berth on the line.
Tipton, an Arizona State signee, had seven strikeouts, including one to end the game, and allowed just two walks. Her totals over the two games were 16 strikeouts, no hits and four walks. More than her personal exploits, she loved sharing the moment with her teammates.
“It’s an incredible feeling. It’s easy to be successful when you work hard to be, but it’s a lot more fun to be successful with the people that you love being successful with,” Tipton said. “These girls gave me so much run support. I think we’ve deserved this championship the last three years, but this year, we decided to make it work. We have the feeling of nobody can beat us.”
They haven’t so far in the postseason other than Daniel Boone forcing an if-necessary district championship game. Still, the Lady Indians prevailed in the second game on their way to a sweep of district and region titles. They didn’t have as many hits as Monday, but first baseman Sophie Dean crushed a three-run home run in the fourth inning to set up the mercy-rule ending.
Dean, who also had a double, finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored. She said the team was inspired by a loud student section and large turnout of fans for the championship game.
“It’s amazing to see all the support from the school and the community,” Dean said. “We have never got to this point so it was a great experience.”
The Lady Indians fans had plenty to cheer about. It was a team effort as Allie McConnelee was on fire throughout the two-game region tournament. She went 2-for-3 with a double, driving in two runs and scoring twice.
Hailey Porter remained hot in the lead-off spot, going 2-for-2 with a RBI and two runs scored. Claudia Maness and Tipton each had an RBI, while Catie Zani scored twice.
“It’s a crazy feeling and it’s also awesome to make some history,” Dean said. “We’ve wanted to do this well all four years and now we’re making our dreams come true. We couldn’t be happier.”
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