Greenwood's big hit, pitching lift Lady Cats

HENDERSONVILLE — After winning the Christian County [Ky.] Tournament over the weekend, Wilson Central got a big District 9-AAA win Monday with a 2-1 verdict over Beech at Drakes Creek Park.
Leevie Greenwood held Beech to three hits and had Central's biggest hit with a two-run single in the second inning. The sophomore walked two and struck out 10 as the Lady Wildcats climbed to 23-8 for the season and 8-2 in the district.
Shelly Stewart doubled to lead off the Central second and went to third on Jessica Faircloth's single. Faircloth stole second before Greenwood got her hit.
Central went 7-0 to win the tournament in Hopkinsville, Ky., knocking off Friendship Christian 3-2 in the finals late Saturday night.
The Lady Wildcats shut out Muhlenburg County [Ky.] 6-0 on Greenwood's no-hitter and knocked off Louisville Manuel 5-2 on Friday.
They wrapped up pool play Saturday with a 6-5 win over Boone County [Ky.].
In the elimination round, Central drilled Danville 11-2 before Greenwood pitched back-to-back shutouts of Union County [4-0] and host Christian County [3-0] to set up the meeting with Friendship.
Greenwood fanned 15 Lady Commanders as the Lady Wildcats scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth to overcome a 2-1 deficit. She allowed just four runs in 25 innings.
"She did an excellent job this weekend and coming in today, she had an excellent job today," Lady Wildcat coach Ashley Putman-Serbin said. "Our bats finally came alive this weekend."
Central will host Smyrna for Senior Night at 7 p.m. tonight.

Lady Commanders thump Trousdale County, finish second in Kentucky tournament
HARTSVILLE — Friendship Christian accumulated 18 hits Monday in a 19-3 thumping of Trousdale County.
Jessi Couch drove in five runs, Rachel Tyler three; Camille Cross, Kenzie Dye, Lindsay Farmer [serving as the flex player while recovering from a sore arm], Carrie Fry and Brooke Klinefelter two apiece as they and freshman Sarah Huddleston each had two hits. Kelcey Lee added an RBI on a hit as the Lady Commanders climbed to 27-9 for the season and 8-0 in District 8-A.
Dye pitched the first 2 1/3 innings before Fry fired the next three, allowing a run on a hit with six strikeouts. Dye returned for the final two frames, finishing with eight punchouts and four hits allowed. Hailey Rutledge missed the game with a sinus infection.
Each team scored twice in the first inning before Friendship went up 3-2 in the second. The Lady Commanders broke it open with seven runs in the fourth and nine in the seventh.
The Lady Commanders were coming off a runner-up finish in the Christian County Tournament in Hopkinsville, Ky. After shutting out Meade County [Ky.] 3-0 Friday, Friendship played seven straight games Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., capped by a 3-2 loss to Wilson Central in the championship game.
Friendship finished third in its pool after losting to Kentucky's No. 2 team, Owensboro Catholic, 2-1 and No. 3 North Laurel 1-0 in seven innings. The tournament was played to a one-hour, 15-minute time limit except for the final
In the elimination round, Friendship rattled off an 8-0 win over Louisville Christian, followed by a 2-1 win over Rossview [coached by Phil Burkhart, who coached Lady Commander coach Erica Powell at Friendship in the '90s] in nine innings. The Lady Commanders edged Lafayette [Ky.] 2-1 and came from behind to oust Louisville Manuel 3-2 in eight innings in the semifinals.
That set up a championship meeting with Central, which scored all its runs on errors, including two on a two-out, bases-loaded miscue in the bottom of the sixth inning after Jessi Couch's two-out, two-run double down the right-field line up Friendship ahead 2-1 in the top of the sixth.
Rutledge fired 26 innings and Fry 23 as they combined to strike out 80 and allow just 14 hits.
"We did really well to play seven games in a row," Powell said. "We found a way to win.
"My pitchers threw amazing."
Friendship will travel to Westmoreland today for a 4:30 p.m. district game.

Three MJ home runs back Morris' shutout pitching
MT. JULIET — Mt. Juliet hit three home runs to back Shelby Morris' two-hit pitching Monday as Mt. Juliet blasted LaVergne 10-0 at MJ League Park.
Shelby Barrett blasted a two-run homer in the second inning, followed by a solo shot by Merrick Martin. Karli Rush, who drilled a two-run double in the first, cracked a solo homer in the third as the Lady Bears did all thier scoring in the first three innings. Bijan Stegall stroked a two-run single in the first and Jennifer Selley and Caroline Mason drove in runs on errors.
Morris walked two and struck out six as Mt. Juliet improved to 30-8 for the season and 7-2 in District 9-AAA.
Martin managed two hits while Amy Buwalda rounded out Mt. Juliet's seven-hit parade with a single.
Mt. Juliet was coming off a 2-1 loss at home to Hendersonville in eight innings last Thursday despite 17 strikeouts by Kenzie Roark.
The Lady Bears then bused to Ooltewah for the Choo Choo Classic where they finished third.
Mt. Juliet beat Knoxville Central 1-0, Science Hill 5-3, Grace Christian 5-0 and Red Bank 7-0. The Lady Bears then faced Girls Preparatory School in the semifinals and handed the Bruisers their first loss of the season 1-0 on Mason's first-inning 325-foot home run.
The Lady Bears then lost to Soddy-Daisy 5-1 in a rematch of last year's state championship as they finished third.
Mt. Juliet will travel to LaVergne at 4:30 p.m. today for a rematch.

Sanders leads Lady Saints to 17-6 win
MT. JULIET — Mt. Juliet Christian scored 10 times in the bottom of the first inning Monday and the Lady Saints went on to beat Community Christian 17-6.
Winning pitcher Leanna Sanders doubled twice and singled while Kelly Adkisson tripled. Ashley Hudson, Bethany Caldwell and Danielle Miller each singled twice and Danielle Adkisson once.
Sanders surrendered four hits and struck out eight in the five-inning game.
Mt. Juliet Christian will travel to Friendship Christian on Thursday for a 4:30 p.m. District 8-A game.