Powell Rallies Twice to Claim Kingsport/Eastman Softball Invitational
by STEVE WILMOTH
TriCitiesSports.com
March 31, 2019
KINGSPORT, Tenn. -- It was an all-District 3-AAA affair in the Kingsport/Eastman Softball Invitational Championship Game Sunday afternoon at Domtar Park.
Defending state champion Powell rallied from a 6-2 deficit in its final at bat and won 8-7 on Ashley Harbison’s walk-off single in the second international tie-breaker inning.
It was the second Eastman title for the Panthers (18-2), who also won in 2005. Powell also finished third in 2016
“This is a really good tournament,” said Powell coach Jeff Inman. “We like playing in it and it’s a thrill to win it.”
Anderson County, seeded fifth out of pool play, reached the title game with an 8-7 victory over No. 4 Daniel Boone and a 5-3 win over top-seeded Morristown East.
Second-seeded Powell popped No. 10 Greenbrier, 7-0, in the quarterfinal. and got a walk-off home run from Hayden Dye to rally past No. 6 King’s Academy, 2-1, in the semifinals.
It was the second time this season the two schools, separated by a mere 14-mile trek up Interstate 75 north of Knoxville, have met, but neither have been in district play. The two will play a district doubleheader in two weeks.
“A couple of weeks ago we actually went down and played in the Gulf Shores Classic and ran into them in an elimination round,” said Inman. The Panthers won that game, 3-0, behind the pitching of ETSU-bound Allison Farr.
Farr was the winner against The King’s Academy, but fell behind early, 3-0, against the Mavericks on two walks, two singles and a two-run Mallorie Overton triple in the top of the first.
Powell answered in the bottom half on a Lilly Holston two-run bomb to left.
But Anderson County added three more runs in the third. Leah Freeman opened with a triple and scored on Emilee Fower’s single.
After Hannah Bruce walked, Mallorie Overton sacrificed both up a station and Aundria Long’s sacrifice fly plated Fowler. Bruce then came around on Abbie Buswell’s double.
Powell rallied on a run-scoring single by Dye and another run scored when Holston reached on an error. With two outs and an 0-1 count, Harbison ripped a two-run single to center to tie the score, 6-6.
“Ashley Harbison came up big twice for us in this game,” added Inman. “She’s been swinging it pretty well this weekend. Hopefully it carries on.”
Both teams pushed across a run in the first international tie-breaker inning, but Powell reliever Alaina Watson got a strikeout when an attempted two-strike sacrifice bunt trickled foul. Haley Schultz then made a diving catch from first on a second attempted bunt and Watson got the third out on a grounder to third.
For Powell, the sacrifice bunt from Dye was successful sending Cayden Baker to third. Anderson County walked Holston and Schultz intentionally to get to Harbison who ripped a 1-2 pitch up the middle to drive home Baker with the winning run.
“It’s all thanks to my team and and them having my back and them being on (base),” said Harbison. “We wouldn’t have won without them being on, so it’s a really whole team effort. I know if anyone else had been up there, they would have done the same thing.”
Harbinson finished with three hits and three RBI’s in the game and wasn’t overly surprised that Anderson County walked two to set-up a bases-loaded, one-out situation.
“I was thinking I just needed to be a team player and just do what we’ve working for all year long,” continued Harbison. “We just all have confidence in each other.”
Harbison said her team’s approach to the Eastman Tournament wasn’t any different than last season’s postseason run to the state title.
“We play everything like that, like it’s a state championship,” Harbison added.
TKA Claims Third
King’s Academy, coached by Marc Weekly, son of Lady Vol co-head coach Ralph Weekly, bounced back to take third with a 9-2 victory over Morristown East.
The Lady Lions led 2-1, but scored seven in the top of the fifth, highlighted by University of Tennessee signee Maddie Webber’s grand slam.
USC-Upstate commit Cassie Norris finished 2-for-3 with a run scored and two driven in while Charleston Southern commit Hayden Jenkins went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in one. Dartmouth bound Regan Weekly had one hit and scored one run.
Boone Takes Sixth
Daniel Boone, the only local team playing on Sunday, bounced back from the Anderson County loss to beat Grainger, 4-0, on Megan Ackerman’s two-hit shutout.
But the Lady ‘Blazers then fell to Cookeville, 2-0, in the fifth-place contest.
Ackerman finished 3-for-3 against Anderson County and Nickolette led a late five-run rally with a three-run homer only to see Aundria Long stroke a walk-off RBI-single to win in for the Mavericks.
Jaycie Jenkins and Emma Robinette also drove in runs in the loss and also drove in runs in the win over the Grizzlies. Jenkins finished 2-for-3 with two doubled and two runs scored.
Kingsport/Eastman Softball Invitational Elite Eight Bracket
Quarterfinals
#1 Morristown East 11, #8 William Blount 0
#4 Anderson County 8, #5 Daniel Boone 7
#6 King's Academy 7, #14 Cookeville 3
#2 Powell 7, #10 Greenbrier 0
Semifinals
#2 Powell 2, No. 6 King's Academy 1
#4 Anderson County 5, No. 1 Morristown East 3
Losers Bracket
No. 5 Daniel Boone 4, No. 8 William Blount 0
No. 14 Cookeville 7, No. 10 Greenbrier 0 (Forfeit)
7th Place - No. 8 William Blount 7, No. 10 Greenbrier 0 (Forfeit)
5th Place - No. 14 Cookeville 2, No. 5 Daniel Boone 0
3rd Place - No. 6 King's Academy 9, No. 1 Morristown East 2
Championship - No. 2 Powell 8, No. 4 Anderson County 7