Lady Ads win close ones, go 3-0 vs. tough round-robin foes
It was a long but successful Saturday on the diamond for the Farragut High School softball team. The Lady Admirals notched a pair of comeback victories at home over two of the state’s top teams.
Farragut [8-1 starting the week] opened the March 25 Farragut Play Day by winning an 8-7 slugfest over Waverly. After a short break, the Lady Admirals outlasted Gibbs 4-3 to close the two-day event at 3-0. It began Friday night, March 24, with a victory over defending Class AAA state champion Dickson County.
“Everybody did their part today,” said Farragut senior Lexee Lamoree, who went 2-for-3 and belted a two-run homer and three-run triple in Saturday’s opener against the Lady Tigers. “I think we worked well together today and we were disciplined and patient at the plate and we took some walks.”
The Lady Admirals defeated Waverly in dramatic fashion, in their last at-bat in the bottom of the seventh, on a walk-off single by Tori West. Bailey Myers opened the game-winning rally with a one-out single. Myers advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Avery Jones. West drove in Myers for the win.
“That was nice for me because it was my first hit of the day,” said West, who was injured in the opening week of the 2017 season. “It really felt good and it’s nice to be back.
“This all started [Friday] night for us when we beat Dickson County. They’re the [defending] state champion.”
Waverly [6-3] seized the upper hand early with a pair of runs in the top of the first and two more in the second to take a 4-0 lead.
The Lady Ads squandered some early scoring opportunities against the Lady Tigers. Andrea Sarhatt had a one-out double in the first and Callie Moore led off the second with a triple — but both were left stranded.
FHS got on the board in the third on Lamoree’s home run, cutting the deficit to 4-2.
Farragut then scored four in the fourth to take a 6-4 lead. Lamoree had a three-run triple in the frame and West drew a walk with the bases loaded.
In the top of the sixth, the Lady Tigers recaptured the lead. They went ahead 7-6 with the help of two Farragut errors.
Farragut pulled even in its half of the sixth. Sarhatt singled and took second on an error. She stole third and came home on a two-out single by Moore, who would eventually pick up the win in relief of starter Lakyn Moore.
Moore retired the Lady Tigers in order in the seventh to set the stage for West’s heroics.
In their second game of the day, the Lady Admirals fell behind 2-0 early as the Gibbs Lady Eagles scored twice in the top of the first.
There, Leah Sohm led off the game with a double and came home on a single by Sierra Huckelbee. Huckelbee later scored on a wild pitch.
The Lady Ads pulled to within 2-1 in their half of the frame. Lamoree had a two-out triple and scored when Kelsie Tuggle singled. Tuggle added a two-run double in the third and that gave Farragut a 3-2 lead. From there, the Lady Admirals never trailed again.
Farragut added an insurance run in the fourth when Sarhatt had an RBI single.
The Lady Eagles pulled to within 4-3 in the fifth when Olivia Wheeler drove in Huckelbee, who doubled to lead off the frame.
After seeing his team pick up a couple of hard-fought victories, Farragut coach David Moore was pleased.
“We hit the ball well today and this all really started in our game against Hardin Valley [on Tuesday, March 21],” he said. “We were ahead 8-2 when the game was suspended [due to rain].
“This is pretty special right now and hopefully, we can keep up this momentum and keep this mojo going.”
