Meeks, Lady 'Toppers Bound Back, Take Season Series From Lady Indians
Wild horses may not have been able to pull Isabel Meeks out of the circle on Friday.
After throwing 123 pitches in an extra-inning loss at Dobyns-Bennett on Thursday, Meeks came back to Indian Highland Park and notched another complete game as Science Hill defeated the Lady Indians by a 10-6 margin on a rainy night in Kingsport.
The result puts Science Hill (17-7, 4-4) in the driver's seat to secure second place in the conference and, with it, avoid the elimination game between the No. 3 and 4 seeds in the District 1-4A tournament. The Hilltoppers can clinch the No. 2 seed by beating West Ridge on Tuesday.
D-B (24-10, 4-4), meanwhile, can finish second only if it beats Daniel Boone – which already has wrapped up the conference title and top overall seed – on Tuesday and Science Hill loses to West Ridge.
“We understood how big of a game that was,” said Meeks, who scattered seven hits and struck out five while issuing a single walk. “We had to go and beat them twice so we can have a better chance of our rankings in conference.”
Megan Harmon, Science Hill’s coach and a former hurler for the Lady Hilltoppers herself, respects the moxie of her standout sophomore pitcher Meeks: “She's the one that wants the ball and we're thankful for that. She knows what she's doing out there, she works hard at it and she just has a lot of self-driven motivation. I don't have to say much to her. She goes out there and she works hard.”
Along the way, Meeks helped her own cause. She went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Malia Maroukas, the Science Hill first baseman, also had three RBIs as part of a 2-for-4 day. The Lady Hilltoppers rapped out nine total hits among a slew of hard-hit balls.
“We just came out there with the mentality of swing the bat hard, hit it hard,” Meeks said.
The walk-off win by D-B on Thursday ate at Meeks all that night.
“For sure,” she said. “Because that game could have gone either way: one play, one swing of the bat changs that entire ballgame.”
Science Hill left little doubt in this one. After spotting D-B a 1-0 lead on Hailey Porter’s home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning, the ’Toppers put up three crooked numbers en route to victory: three runs in the third inning, three in the fifth, and a four-spot in the sixth.
“I expected them to come in here and compete and they did,” Harmon said.
Rain fell steadily for much of the contest and while play was never paused it made for a messy game. D-B weathered an assortment of wild pitches and passed balls, two of which during a Meeks at-hat in the top of the third accounted for a pair of runs. Then Meeks rapped into an RBI groundout. That gave Science Hill a 3-1 lead and the Lady Hilltoppers never looked back.
Science Hill widened the gap to 6-2 in the fifth inning when five consecutive batters reached safely, then plated another four runs in the sixth. Maroukas struck the big blow in that frame, a two-run single.
The Hilltopper victory spoiled a fabulous performance at the plate from Porter. The D-B junior homered twice, also blasting a three-run shot down the left-field line in the bottom of the seventh, giving her 14 round-trippers for the season – a modern-day record for the Lady Indian program. Porter went 4-for-4 out of the leadoff spot but the rest of the D-B lineup combined for a modest 3-for-24 effort.
“We didn't hit the ball like we should,” Tribe coach Andy Hubbard said. “We had seven hits and Porter had four of them. We didn't hit it like we’re capable of hitting it and they did.”
After Porter’s dinger in the seventh inning, Harmon went out for a mound visit that brought in the entire Science Hill infield.
“I went out there and asked her if she needed me to fix the mound or if she could get two outs. She said I want to get two outs and go home. She was persistent,” Harmon said.
That mentality came as no surprise to the Lady Hilltoppers coach.
“I'm telling you, she's a competitor,” Harmon said. “We've tried to have the mindset this year of not wearing her out before May. I've really tried hard as far as our scheduling goes and our tournaments go to keep her fresh enough to be able to play games like this. She's bought in. She's bought in 100%. She wants the ball. She wants to throw.”
Science Hill - Isabel Meeks and Lora Wilgus; Dobyns-Bennett – Allie McConlee, Sophie Dean (5), Braelynn Ferrell (6) and Riley McMillan. W - Meeks. L - McConle. 2B - Science Hill 3 (Chloe Conner, Beth Pridemore, Kaylee Oler), D-B 1 (Catie Zani). HR - D-B: Hailey Porter 2 (1st, solo; 7th, 2 on). RBI - Science Hill 8 (Malia Maroukas 3, Meeks 3, Annabelle Eanes, Wilgus), Dobyns-Bennett 6 (Porter 4, Braelynn Ferrell, McConlee). SB - Science Hill 1 (Conner). SF - Science Hill 1 (Wilgus), D-B 1 (McConlee). HBP - Science Hill 1 (Maddie Diamond). SF - D-B 1 (McConlee). LOB - Science Hill 6, D-B 3.
After throwing 123 pitches in an extra-inning loss at Dobyns-Bennett on Thursday, Meeks came back to Indian Highland Park and notched another complete game as Science Hill defeated the Lady Indians by a 10-6 margin on a rainy night in Kingsport.
The result puts Science Hill (17-7, 4-4) in the driver's seat to secure second place in the conference and, with it, avoid the elimination game between the No. 3 and 4 seeds in the District 1-4A tournament. The Hilltoppers can clinch the No. 2 seed by beating West Ridge on Tuesday.
D-B (24-10, 4-4), meanwhile, can finish second only if it beats Daniel Boone – which already has wrapped up the conference title and top overall seed – on Tuesday and Science Hill loses to West Ridge.
“We understood how big of a game that was,” said Meeks, who scattered seven hits and struck out five while issuing a single walk. “We had to go and beat them twice so we can have a better chance of our rankings in conference.”
Megan Harmon, Science Hill’s coach and a former hurler for the Lady Hilltoppers herself, respects the moxie of her standout sophomore pitcher Meeks: “She's the one that wants the ball and we're thankful for that. She knows what she's doing out there, she works hard at it and she just has a lot of self-driven motivation. I don't have to say much to her. She goes out there and she works hard.”
Along the way, Meeks helped her own cause. She went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Malia Maroukas, the Science Hill first baseman, also had three RBIs as part of a 2-for-4 day. The Lady Hilltoppers rapped out nine total hits among a slew of hard-hit balls.
“We just came out there with the mentality of swing the bat hard, hit it hard,” Meeks said.
The walk-off win by D-B on Thursday ate at Meeks all that night.
“For sure,” she said. “Because that game could have gone either way: one play, one swing of the bat changs that entire ballgame.”
Science Hill left little doubt in this one. After spotting D-B a 1-0 lead on Hailey Porter’s home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning, the ’Toppers put up three crooked numbers en route to victory: three runs in the third inning, three in the fifth, and a four-spot in the sixth.
“I expected them to come in here and compete and they did,” Harmon said.
Rain fell steadily for much of the contest and while play was never paused it made for a messy game. D-B weathered an assortment of wild pitches and passed balls, two of which during a Meeks at-hat in the top of the third accounted for a pair of runs. Then Meeks rapped into an RBI groundout. That gave Science Hill a 3-1 lead and the Lady Hilltoppers never looked back.
Science Hill widened the gap to 6-2 in the fifth inning when five consecutive batters reached safely, then plated another four runs in the sixth. Maroukas struck the big blow in that frame, a two-run single.
The Hilltopper victory spoiled a fabulous performance at the plate from Porter. The D-B junior homered twice, also blasting a three-run shot down the left-field line in the bottom of the seventh, giving her 14 round-trippers for the season – a modern-day record for the Lady Indian program. Porter went 4-for-4 out of the leadoff spot but the rest of the D-B lineup combined for a modest 3-for-24 effort.
“We didn't hit the ball like we should,” Tribe coach Andy Hubbard said. “We had seven hits and Porter had four of them. We didn't hit it like we’re capable of hitting it and they did.”
After Porter’s dinger in the seventh inning, Harmon went out for a mound visit that brought in the entire Science Hill infield.
“I went out there and asked her if she needed me to fix the mound or if she could get two outs. She said I want to get two outs and go home. She was persistent,” Harmon said.
That mentality came as no surprise to the Lady Hilltoppers coach.
“I'm telling you, she's a competitor,” Harmon said. “We've tried to have the mindset this year of not wearing her out before May. I've really tried hard as far as our scheduling goes and our tournaments go to keep her fresh enough to be able to play games like this. She's bought in. She's bought in 100%. She wants the ball. She wants to throw.”
Science Hill | 003 | 034 | 0 | -- | 10 | 10 | 2 |
Dobyns-Bennett | 101 | 001 | 3 | -- | 6 | 7 | 1 |
Science Hill - Isabel Meeks and Lora Wilgus; Dobyns-Bennett – Allie McConlee, Sophie Dean (5), Braelynn Ferrell (6) and Riley McMillan. W - Meeks. L - McConle. 2B - Science Hill 3 (Chloe Conner, Beth Pridemore, Kaylee Oler), D-B 1 (Catie Zani). HR - D-B: Hailey Porter 2 (1st, solo; 7th, 2 on). RBI - Science Hill 8 (Malia Maroukas 3, Meeks 3, Annabelle Eanes, Wilgus), Dobyns-Bennett 6 (Porter 4, Braelynn Ferrell, McConlee). SB - Science Hill 1 (Conner). SF - Science Hill 1 (Wilgus), D-B 1 (McConlee). HBP - Science Hill 1 (Maddie Diamond). SF - D-B 1 (McConlee). LOB - Science Hill 6, D-B 3.
VIDEO GALLERY
