The rain stayed away just long enough for Central to defeat East Ridge 7-1 in District 6-AA softball Thursday.
Outfielders who began the game wearing shades ditched them as the sky grew darker by the inning.
"Pretty good timing," joked Central coach LeeAnne Shurette, whose team is headed to Crossville for a weekend tournament. "We got it in, and I'm glad because we've had to cancel or postpone so many games already this season."
Rain showers started after both teams broke their postgame huddles and headed to their vehicles. But not before the baseball Pounder Classic, in the adjacent Gene Lively Stadium, had to be postponed.
The Lady Purple Pounders took an early lead, ensuring they'd be the victors in case the game became official before all seven innings were completed.
Central starting pitcher Brooke Parrott, a sophomore, set down the side to open the game. Leadoff batter Samantha Scott drew a walk to open the bottom of the first. Parrott, hitting second in the lineup, followed with another walk -- an ominous start in the field for East Ridge.
Kaili Crawley, a freshman, punished Lady Pioneers pitcher Alexis Moore for the two walks and one mistake Moore made to Central's third hitter. Crawley crushed a pitch over the right-field fence for a three-run home run that sounded like no other hit in the entire game.
"It was so fat, it was sweet," Crawley said. "I'd seen where (Moore) got to 2-0 on the first two batters then threw a strike. She got to 2-0 on me and I knew a good pitch was coming."
Parrott took control of the game from there. She finished with 11 strikeouts, allowed only four hits and yielded an unearned run in the sixth inning.
"Their pitcher did a good job of mixing it up, and she's one of the best pitchers we've seen and she kept us off balance," East Ridge coach Susan Mauser said. "We came out flat in the first inning and they were ready to go. We have to be better prepared as a team to compete in the first inning.
"Good thing is that the season is young and we're only going to get better the more pitchers we see."
The early advantage allowed Parrott to be more aggressive and attack the East Ridge lineup with a variety of curveballs, changeups and fastballs.
"I feel a lot better when we have runs on the board," Parrott said. "Even with the lead, it was all about staying focused."
The Lady Pounders added to their lead with a four-run fifth inning. Emma Beach delivered the clutch hit with a two-run double. In the same inning, Alexis Frampp completed a 3-for-3 day and also scored.
"I'd like to keep this going," Shurette said. "We had a lot of kids step up and play well today."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.