WHITWELL, Tenn. — Whitwell softball coach Grace Pickett had mixed emotions after her team left seven runners on base during the first three innings of Friday’s Class A state sectional game.

Glad to see her players making contact but frustrated with their inability to bring in any runs, Pickett encouraged them before the start of the fourth, and the Lady Tigers responded.

They twice cleared the bases with home runs in the five-run inning, and they went on to a 6-0 win over visiting Monterey that puts Whitwell in the state tournament for the second year in a row.

“We were getting people on base, but I wanted us to get them in,” Pickett said. “But everybody stayed positive. It usually takes us a couple of times through the lineup anyway, but I think they came out more focused.”

The Lady Tigers (23-8) had beaten Monterey on the road in last year’s sectionals, and the Lady Wildcats led off Friday’s rematch with a base hit before Whitwell pitcher Amber Webb struck out the next three batters.

A single from Katie Easterly loaded the bases for Whitwell in the bottom half before a foul-out ended the threat. The Lady Tigers had runners at first and second with two outs in the second and third innings, but Monterey’s Taylor Adkins pitched her way out of trouble both times.

“We had kind of a slow start,” Easterly said. “But after we got through everybody’s first at-bat, we knew what to expect. We knew what she was throwing, and we were ready for it.”

Cayce Chambers’ double got the Lady Tigers started in the fourth, and she advanced on a bunt and scored the game’s first run on a single from Brandi Nunley. Whitney Long’s eighth homer of the season brought in Nunley, and after a walk to Taylor McDaniel, Easterly’s first homer of the year gave Whitwell a 5-0 lead.

Three of Monterey’s six hits came with two outs in the sixth, but Webb got a fly ball to end the inning. Nunley, who finished 3-for-4 before joining her fellow seniors at Whitwell’s graduation, led off the bottom of the sixth with a homer.

Webb then retired the Lady Wildcats in order to secure the victory and a state-tournament berth for the Lady Tigers, who will play Tuesday evening in Murfreesboro.

“This was our goal at the beginning of the season,” Pickett said. “I stressed to them that we had a lot of work to do before we could get there. I’m just so proud of my girls.”

n At Lebanon in a Class A sectional, Friendship Christian defeated Sale Creek 4-0 and ended the Lady Panthers’ season.