Tharptown girls cruise to sweep

By Staff
Mike Self FCT Sports Editor
RUSSELLVILLE - Jessica Myrick and Heather Hatton combined to strike out nine batters in a four-inning no-hitter on Monday as Tharptown defeated Double Springs 15-0 in the first game of a doubleheader at Tom Strange Park.
The Lady Wildcats (4-3) completed the sweep with a 20-3 win in game two.
Myrick (3-3) earned the win in the opener, striking out five of the six batters she faced in two innings. Hatton relieved to start the third and struck out four while walking two in her two innings of work.
"I was very pleased with our pitchers today," Tharptown coach Susie Sellers said. "I thought they both did really well. It was Heather's first time to pitch, but I thought she handled the pressure well."
Tharptown took advantage of eight walks to score nine runs in the bottom of the first inning of game one. Lori Metcalf drove in a run with a sacrifice bunt in the second inning, and the Lady Wildcats did their best work with the bats in the bottom of the third.
Hollie Hines led off with an infield hit and scored on Laken Barnett's double. After Hatton drew a walk, Barnett scored on a wild pitch to make it 12-0.
Myrick followed with an RBI groundout, and Chelsey McCluskey reached on an infield hit and scored to make it 14-0.
"The best thing about today was that some of our inexperienced players got the chance to run the bases in a real game situation," Sellers said. "You can try to teach them to run the bases in practice, but it's not the same. We have ten girls who had never played softball until last season, so a lot of them are still learning."
The second game started out much the same as the first, with Tharptown capitalizing on seven walks to score eight runs in the bottom of the first inning. Chelsey McCluskey had a hit in the inning, and Laken Barnett added an RBI single.
Double Springs pushed across a run against Hatton in the top of the second, but the Lady Wildcats scored 12 runs in the bottom half with the help of six more walks and two hit batters. Hatton had a triple in the inning, and McCluskey added an infield single.
Hatton (1-0) earned the win, allowing three runs in three innings.
"We want to improve every time we play, but it's hard to work on your hitting when only one out of every seven or eight pitches is a strike," Sellers said. "We faced some fast pitching in a tournament on Saturday, and we had just started to get our timing down by the end of the day. It was a little hard to readjust to the slow stuff we saw today."
In other recent action, Tharptown finished second at the Liberty Classic in Madison on Saturday.
"We were a little disappointed, because we won that tournament last year," Sellers said. "We just didn't play very well on Saturday. We ended up having to play five straight games and eight straight hours. It was raining off and on, and our girls were cold, wet, tired and hungry. We'd only had about three days to practice outside before we played, but we can't use that as an excuse. All the other teams were in the same boat."
The Lady Wildcats lost 7-2 in the championship game to Blanch (TN), the same team they beat in last year's finals.
Myrick took the loss, striking out five in six innings. Blanch led 4-2 before adding three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Hollie Hines led Tharptown at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a home run. Myrick and Laken Barnett also went 3-for-4, and Heather Hatton added two hits.
In previous action at the tournament:
Tharptown 3 Lincoln County (TN) 2
The Lady Wildcats rallied for three runs in their final at bat to avenge an earlier loss to Lincoln County and earn a berth in the championship round.
Tharptown trailed 2-0 when Hollie Hines led off the top of the sixth with a single and moved to second on Laken Barnett's groundout.
After a walk to Heather Hatton, Jessica Myrick tied the game with a two-run double.
Courtesy runner Lori Metcalf scored on a single by Lauren Scott to give Tharptown a 3-2 lead.
Myrick then retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth to seal the win and propel Tharptown into the championshp game.
Myrick earned the win, striking out seven in six innings and getting solid play from her defense behind her.
Tharptown 3 Madison County 1
Hollie Hines hit a pair of inside-the-park home runs, and Jessica Myrick struck out 11 in a five-inning one hitter to lead the Lady Wildcats.
Hines broke a 1-1 tie with her second homer of the game leading off the top of the third inning.
Laken Barnett went 2-for-3, and Chelsey McCluskey added a double. Myrick had a single.
Lincoln County 7 Tharptown 2
Lincoln County scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to break open a close game and drop the Lady Wildcats to 0-2 in pool play.
Jessica Myrick took the loss for Tharptown, striking out four in five innings.
Laken Barnett was 2-for-3 with a triple, and Hollie Hines had an RBI double. Lauren Scott added a double and a single.
Blanch (TN) 6 Tharptown 5
Blanch built an early 5-1 lead and held off a late Tharptown rally to win the pool play opener.
Jessica Myrick took the loss, striking out six in five innings.
Hollie Hines was 1-for-2 with a home run, and Laken Barnett and Lauren Scott each had a triple. Heather Hatton added a double, and Myrick had a single.
Tharptown was scheduled to host Anderson on Tuesday. The Lady Wildcats will travel to face East Franklin on Thursday before opening play in a tournament at Danville on Friday against Wilson.