JASPER, Tenn. -- Whitwell right fielder Becca Muir turned to the wall, sprinted a few steps, then realized that more running would be futile.
Leadoff hitter Harlie Jordan's blast in the bottom of the first inning set the tone for Marion County's 6-0 softball win Thursday in the District 6-A and county-rivalry game.
"Any time a leadoff hitter hits a home run against you, it hurts," Whitwell coach Derrin Easterly said. "I still feel it was something we should have overcome."
His Lady Tigers had their chances to mount rallies, but future Tennessee State pitcher Erica O'Kane escaped every situation and finished with a four-hit shutout for the Lady Warriors.
Marion County's Breanna Vinson (00) gets back safely to first after she was almost doubled off. Whitwell first baseman Kalee Hedrick takes the throw. The Whitwell Lady Tigers visited the Marion County Lady Warriors in TSSAA softball action in Jasper on Thursday, April 23, 2015."We kept them off balance," said O'Kane, who worked out of a bases-loaded predicament in the top of the fifth inning. "They're a good hitting team and our defense played well."
The victory placed the Lady Warriors (16-6, 4-1) in a three-way tie for first place with Sale Creek and Lookout Valley -- each having one district loss to a fellow leader. Both Marion County and Sale Creek have Van Buren County left on their district schedules.
"It was an inside meatball," Jordan, a junior outfield, said of her fifth homer of the year. "It started the game off well and gave us all a boost."
But Marion County left the bases loaded following her no-doubt home run. After two of the next three batters reached base, Easterly pulled his starting pitcher in favor of Carley Long, who pitched the rest of the game.
"We should have got more than one run out of that inning where we sent seven batters to the plate," Marion County coach Thomas Long said. "In a situation like that, players can lose bat control. So you teach about it and grow from it."
The Lady Warriors added two runs in the bottom of the third on a two-run double by Kelsey Barnett that reached the outfield fence.
Whitwell, with at least four players who will play in college, including Alyssa Coppinger at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, started a rally in the top of the fifth. A single and an error put runners on third and second with no outs. A failed squeeze attempt resulting in one out brought Coppinger to the plate.
Coach Long called for O'Kane, one of the best pitchers in the area, to intentionally walk Coppinger, one of the best hitters in the area. That call loaded the bases with one out, a three-run lead and the heart of Whitwell's order coming up.
"I've done that once all year -- tonight," Long said. "Alyssa can beat you with one swing. It was a no-brainer decision."
It worked out for Marion County. Whitwell did not score after a batted ball hit the runner at third while she was in fair ground, and the next batter grounded out. Marion added three runs in the bottom of the sixth with Whitwell comitting two errors.
"We're not playing our style of ball," Easterly said. "For the last week we haven't been the team that we've been all season."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.