Dominant 3rd-seeded FHS softball first 4-4A team to earn region spot
Farragut High School’s softball team took another decisive step toward a District 4-4A Tournament title Friday night, May 3, at Bellamy Field.
Up 3-2 after five against Maryville, the Lady Ads sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the sixth. The five-run result made the score 8-2, which held to the end, earning FHS a region spot.
“It was back and forth early, but we finally got an opportunity to string some hits together there (in the sixth),” FHS head coach Nick Green said.
“Great job by Farragut,” Joe Michalski, MHS head coach, said. “We gotta keep working, keep grinding. That’s softball.”
Farragut, the No. 3 seed, got an RBI single from freshman catcher Rylee Raby in the first, and senior center fielder Addison Pressley in the second.
The second-seeded Lady Rebels got a run-scoring single in the second to cut the lead to 2-1. Ava Barnes’s RBI single in the fourth made it 3-1, but MHS scored in the bottom of the inning to make it 3-2. On that scoring play, Maryville’s Kristy McCord was thrown out at the plate trying to score the tying run. Neither team scored in the fifth.
The Lady Ads’ game-changing sixth started with singles by Amelia Dorset and Pressley. Slugger Elsa Morrison was then intentionally walked, which happened in all five of her at-bats.
Senior first baseman Hailey Nichols grounded to third, but the throw home was dropped, allowing Dorsett to score. Barnes then delivered her second RBI single, scoring Pressley and Morrison, and giving FHS a 6-2 lead.
Raby’s second hit brought in Nichols to make it 7-2. Senior second baseman Rilee Kate Ragan then singled, scoring pinch-runner Dajah Means.
Senior starter Emma MacTavish went four innings for FHS, giving up four hits and one earned run. She issued three walks and struck out four.
Freshman Hallie Grace Johnson shut down the Lady Rebels during the final three innings. She gave up three hits and a walk, and had a strikeout.
“Emma gave us everything she had,” Green said. “Hallie gave us three solid innings of shutout ball. Not bad.”
“I felt no pressure because my team was right behind me and they had my back,” Johnson said.
“I think we’re peaking; our energy is getting a lot better and we’re getting closer,” Barnes said. “Really proud of everybody.”
