DECATUR, Tenn. - Nine pitches into Saturday's TSSAA Class A softball sectional between South Greene and host Meigs County, the game's tone had clearly been set.
Meigs pitcher Ashley Rogers, not showing the nervousness she later admitted having, threw nine consecutive pitches past the top of the overmatched South Greene order.
Good morning, good afternoon, good night.
The Lady Tigers rode that intimidating start to score three runs in the bottom half of the inning and six more over the next two frames to win 9-1, clinching a spot in the state tournament at this week's Spring Fling in Murfreesboro.
"We've done that a lot this year, jumping on teams early," Meigs coach Jeff Davis said with a smile. "Ashley is big time. She's had a great year, and she hasn't given up a run and not very many hits in the past two weeks. I'm glad she's just a sophomore, and I'm glad she's on our team.
"We seem to be peaking at the right time."
Rogers wasn't finished after her Bugs Bunny-like first inning. After getting the early lead, the University of Tennessee-commited player struck out the side in the second and third. The Lady Panthers did foul two pitches off, but the sophomore was clearly in command.
"I was a little nervous, but my team had my back and I just did my thing," Rogers said. "Getting early runs helps me relax, and it really did tonight."
Lindsey Ward's two-out, two-run single highlighted the first inning, while third baseman Madison Crabtree's three-run home run, her 12th of the season, was the key hit of a four-run second. Crabtree and Rogers finished the scoring with RBI singles in the third as the Lady Tigers (36-3) roared to a 9-0 lead.
Davis was able to substitute freely over the final three innings, including giving Rogers the rest of the night off as senior Olivia Johnson pitched the last four innings.
"We've had a great year," Davis said. "We've overcome more injuries than we've ever had, including our catcher (Aubrey Reed), who just returned today. We've depended on our pitching, and it's been strong all year, and now we're starting to hit it a bit."
With their momentum strong, including 14 consecutive wins, the Lady Tigers like their prospects in Murfreesboro.
"I think we have a good chance," Crabtree said. "Our attitude is so much better and we've grown as friends, which means a lot. We did not play well there last year, and our goal is to win that first game and build on that."
' Marion County 6, Goodpasture 4: At Madison, Tenn., the Lady Warriors earned their second consecutive trip to the Class A state tournament as Taylor Roberts (18-3) pitched a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts.
Marion County (34-7) took a 6-1 lead featuring Brianna Havner's two-run double in the three-run second inning and a Harlie Jordan home run in the two-run fourth. Savannah Thomas scored twice.
In the second, Thomas singled and Roberts reached base on an error before Havner's double. Then Havner scored on another error. After Jordan's homer in the fourth, Breanna Vinson singled, advanced on a sacrifice bunt by MaKayla Dalton and came home on a Chloe Campbell single. Dalton had two sac bunts and an RBI.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.