Huntland's Lily Jackson begins to run toward first base after hitting the ball during a game Tuesday against South Pittsburg High School. Jackson had two doubles and two RBIs in the 7-5 win.
Huntland's Lily Jackson begins to run toward first base after hitting the ball during a game Tuesday against South Pittsburg High School. Jackson had two doubles and two RBIs in the 7-5 win.
The Huntland High School Lady Hornets beat the South Pittsburg Lady Pirates 7-5 at home Tuesday for their eighth win of the season.
The Lady Hornets overcame an early 4-0 deficit to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth and remained in front the rest of the way as they secured their fifth comeback victory of the year.
Huntland head softball coach Michael Tipps said that it isn’t ideal for his team to be in a scenario where they have to rally back from a deficit, but he’ll take the final result that his team got Tuesday.
“I’d really appreciate it if we stopped giving up four runs and five runs in the first inning and playing from behind, but it’s like we talked about multiple times this year, they have a little fight and a little grit,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep rolling and understand that we’ve got to make some plays when it comes to tournament time because they’re not going to be easy games.”
The Lady Pirates scored four runs before the first out of the game was recorded with a two-run error and a two-run home run providing the damage in the top of the first.
The Lady Hornets loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first on a double from Bella Smith and walks drawn by Hadley Gardner and Jocy May, but the next two batters struck out to keep Huntland off the board early.
The Lady Hornets scored their first run of the day in the bottom of the third with Hadley Gardner hitting a solo home run that just cleared the right-field fence to make it a 4-1 game.
The Lady Pirates threatened to add to their lead in the top of the fifth with a leadoff walk and two singles loading the bases with nobody out, but pitcher Smith struck out the next three batters to keep the deficit at three runs.
The Lady Hornets then rallied with a six-run frame in the bottom of the fifth as Bailey Morris scored on a wild pitch, Camerin Davis hit a two-run single, Lily Jackson followed with a two-run double and Emily Stewart contributed an RBI triple to give Huntland a 7-4 lead. The run-scoring hits from Davis, Jackson and Stewart all came with two outs in the inning.
The Lady Pirates scored a run off of an error in the top of the sixth, but they weren’t able to make up any more ground as the Lady Hornets went on to win by two.
Smith pitched a complete game for the Lady Hornets with seven strikeouts, seven hits, one walk, three earned runs and two unearned runs allowed.
With the win, the Lady Hornets improved to 8-6 on the season.
They will next play Thursday at home against Cornersville High School. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
