BRISTOL, Tenn. — Grainger softball coach Ben Williford described Tennessee High’s Carly Compton as being phenomenal. He won’t get any argument from his players.
Compton struck out 15 while pitching a two-hitter and aided her outing with a two-run home run as the Vikings clinched a sectional berth with a 4-2 win Monday night at Rotary Park.
The Vikings (23-4) will attempt to beat David Crockett for the fifth straight time when they host the Pioneers (22-14) on Wednesday in the championship game. Crockett won 15-4 at Greeneville on Monday.
Eliminating Grainger (13-12) turned out to be more of a chore than the Vikings had anticipated. It probably didn’t help the intensity level when they began the bottom of the first with four straight hits, the last of which was Compton’s two-run home run.
Four batters, four hits, four runs. A four-and-a-half-inning game seemed to be looming.
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But Grainger pitcher Alison Byrd found a feel for her changeup and allowed only two hits for the game’s remainder.
“The first inning worked out well and after that our pitch selection went downhill,” Tennessee High coach David Boggs said. “We’re gonna work on that tomorrow. They know better than that. They’re more disciplined than that.
“I think we relaxed a little bit too much once we got that lead on ‘em, and they’re a scrappy ball team. If it wasn’t for that first inning it might’ve been a totally different outcome.”
Of course, letting your guard down is understandable when you have Compton on the mound. The hard-throwing right-handed junior struck out the side in the second and sixth innings, and fanned two batters in each of the first, third, fifth and seventh innings.
“Carly’s a workhorse,” Boggs said. “She’s never satisfied. That’s part of why I love having her around. You know, these girls all want to win and everything, and she falls right into our culture as far as pushing and pushing and never being satisfied and never giving up.”
Compton appeared to be throwing harder in the seventh inning than she was in the first.
“From the first to the seventh inning, I gain power instead of losing it,” Compton said. “And that goes to my workouts and my trainers and all that, because that’s the main goal. You don’t want to get weaker deeper in ballgames.”
Grainger took a 1-0 lead in the first. McKinley Mills led off with a walk, got to third via a stolen base and wild pitch, and scored on Byrd’s ground-ball.
A leadoff walk to Jaylee Hayes in the fourth led to the Grizzlies’ other run. Hayes was forced out at second on Amanda Kledzick’s fielder’s choice, but then Kledzick stole second base and didn’t stop until she’d reached home plate due to a throwing error and the ball getting past the outfielder.
“We did a good job and stole a few runs,” Williford said. “Of course, that pitcher’s phenomenal.”
The Vikings defense did help in the third inning. Mills led off with a sinking liner to the left side of the infield, and it appeared it would find the ground for an infield single.
But shortstop Addie Wilhoit’s quick reaction gave her a chance to make a crowd-pleasing diving catch.
“Addie’s an absolute baller,” Compton said.
Kaylie Hughes was 2-for-3 with a sharply hit ground-out for the Vikings. Compton was 1-for-2 with the home run and a walk. Catcher Abby Haga hit a two-run single off the right field fence and Lily Ware was 1-for-3 with a line-out.
Boggs said the collective effort must be better against Crockett on Wednesday.
“We’ll be playing Crockett for the fifth time on Wednesday,” he said. “It gets harder to beat ‘em every time we play ‘em. They’re well coached.”
Grainger 100 100 0 -- 2 2 1
Tennessee High 400 000 x -- 4 6 3
Byrd and Spangler. Compton and Haga. W—Compton. L—Byrd. HR—Compton, Tennessee High (1st, two on, none out).