Central softball catcher Kaili Crawley isn't a big fan of tennis, but she's familiar with the grunts made by the likes of Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka.
Crawley sounds like them when she hits a home run.
"You hear it all over the field," teammate Kerri Sylvester joked.
Crawley grunted twice Tuesday, and her two homers helped the Lady Purple Pounders earn the District 6-AA softball title with a 7-1 victory over Red Bank.
"It started when I was 8. I hit one out and grunted, and it stuck," Crawley said. "I don't do it on grounders, just when I get a hold of one."
Central coach LeeAnne Shurette hopes to keep hearing those sounds from her position in the third-base coaching box.
The Lady Pounders (17-14) have accomplished two of their preseason goals -- winning the regular-season district championship and the district tournament -- and will begin their march for more on Monday in a Region 3-AA tournament game on their home field.
"We've been working hard and making each step count," said Sylvester, who went 3-for-3 with two RBIs on the field at East Ridge. "We have goals and we've done what we needed to do."
Red Bank has goals as well.
The Lady Lions (12-15) accomplished one by reaching the region tournament for the first time since the school won the Class AAA state championship in 2005.
"It feels good to have the program back to where we want it," said Red Bank coach Mandi Munn, who took her team to the title 10 years ago. "We had some lean years after that."
Red Bank accomplished that goal of reaching the region tournament Monday night, when it beat East Ridge 13-12 on a walk-off three-run home run by Hannah Wood. There were two outs in the bottom of the seventh when Wood sent a shot over the centerfield fence.
"That was her first home run," Munn said. "She did it again today."
Wood's homer Tuesday lacked the drama and excitement of her shot about 24 hours earlier. It merely cut into Central's lead.
Central left fielder Ally Welch made a difficult twisting catch in the bottom of the first inning to save a run. Crawley came to bat in the bottom of the frame and grunted after her shot to left nearly reached the parking lot and gave Central a 2-0 lead.
"I was equally excited and impressed with the catch in the top of the inning as the homer in the bottom of the inning," Shurette said. "Both plays let everybody on our team relax."
Welch added an RBI single in the bottom of the second, and Sylvester plated a runner in the next inning.
Wood, with her new-found power surge, charged her shot in the top of the fifth and ended Brooke Parrott's bid for a no-hitter.
Central came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning, including Crawley grunting again and Sylvester and Welch each earning another RBI.
"Everybody did their job today," Crawley said. "We've accomplished two goals, and winning regionals is next."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.