Lady Pioneers’ bats explode in 12-2 victory over Lady Mikes
Darnell Graham
Darnell Graham West Greene’s Lexie Mooney pulls in a pop-up during the Lady Pioneers’ 12-2 Section 2-A victory over Carmichaels on Tuesday at Center Township Park in Rogersville.
Darnell Graham
Darnell Graham Carmichaels’ Gina Ranieri (19) stretches but isn’t able to make the out at first base against West Greene’s Linzee Stover during their Section 2-A softball contest on Tuesday at Rice Energy Park in Rogersville.
Darnell Graham
Carmichaels’ Morgan Gaddis (13) crosses the plate before West Greene catcher Shelby Morris can make the play during Tuesday’s Section 2-A softball game at Center Township Park in Rogersville.
ROGERSVILLE — West Greene got reacquainted with an old section rival in Carmichaels Tuesday afternoon, as the Lady Pioneers used their power at the plate in a six-inning 12-2 victory at Rice Energy Park.
The Lady Pioneers (8-0, 3-0) were aided by a pair of three-run home runs by McKenna and Madison Lampe, as West Greene grabbed sole possession of first place in Section 2-A.
“Year in and year out, Carmichaels is a perennial playoff team,” West Greene coach Billy Simms said. “There’s a reason why they have so many section banners over there, and I’m glad this rivalry is back. This is a good team win for us and I’m happy to get that best of them today. We have a lot of respect for them.”
Carmichaels, who has spent the last two seasons in Class AA, suffered its first section loss of the season and is currently 5-3 overall and 3-1 in Section 2-A.
“West Greene can hit,” Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs said. “We knew that. They are a complete team and they have no real weaknesses. We were in Class AA the last two seasons, and I think West Greene can beat a lot of those teams.”
The Lady Mikes scored the first run in the top of the first. Morgan Faddis reached on an infield error and crossed home plate after a two-out RBI double by Gina Ranieri.
West Greene quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning when Madison Renner’s RBI double chased in Madison Lampe to knot things up at 1-1.
In the second frame, the Lady Pioneers exploded for four runs. Lexie Mooney started the inning with a single and went to third on a two-out double by Shelby Morris.
The next batter was McKenna Lampe, and the sophomore centerfielder blasted a three-run homer to left-centerfield.
Madison Lampe extended the lead to 5-1 after collecting a single and making her way around the bases for a run after a three-base error.
After a scoreless third inning, West Greene sent nine batters to the plate in the fourth and tallied five runs to blow the contest open.
Madison Lampe, who went 4-for-4 with four runs scored, launched a three-run home run to centerfield to begin the offensive onslaught.
Courtesy runner Emily Goodwin scored off a run-producing single by Kailtyn Rizor, and Rizor would later score in the inning off of a passed ball to make it 10-1.
“We hit the ball pretty well today,” Simms said. “We came in with a lot of confidence at the plate, and we are pretty balance one through nine in our line-up. We are pretty potent at the top of our line-up, but I like our bottom of the line-up. They are able to grind out at-bats and get on base for our key hitters at the top.”
Both teams were held scoreless in the fifth and Carmichaels trimmed the deficit to 10-2 in the sixth after a RBI single by Taylor Ewart that scored Ranieri.
In the bottom half of the inning, West Greene put the game away and invoked the mercy rule by way of a sacrifice fly from Rizor and courtesy runner Makenzie Thomas scoring on an outfield error later in the frame.
Madison Renner picked up the win in the circle, going 5.1 innings and allowing two runs on four hits with six strikeouts and three walks. Jade Renner collected the final two outs in the sixth for the Lady Pioneers.
“I’m always Madison’s hardest critic,” Simms said. “She really didn’t pitch ahead a lot and had a lot of three-ball counts. She was able to work through it. Unlike last year, she hasn’t gotten the innings like she did. Jade and her are both our No. 1 pitchers. We have a lot of confidence in both and they both have to remain sharp for us.”
Laura Walker suffered the loss for the Lady Mikes, going 3.1 innings and allowing 10 runs on 11 hits with a strikeout and two free passes. Kylie Sinn pitched the remainder of the game for Carmichaels.
“The ball was flying for them,” Briggs said. “We did a good job with their leadoff hitter and were able to slow down their running game. We had to out-hit them today. It’s tough to shut that offense out. The ball was jumping and they got some key home runs.”
West Greene travels to Jefferson-Morgan today, while Carmichaels is idle until a home match-up with Mapletown on Monday.