Ashley Rogers, Madison Crabtree lead Meigs into Class A softball semis

Staff Photo by Doug Strickland/Chattanooga Times Free Press - Gloves lie in a pile in the Lady Trojan Invitational softball tournament Friday, March 29, 2013, in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.
Staff Photo by Doug Strickland/Chattanooga Times Free Press - Gloves lie in a pile in the Lady Trojan Invitational softball tournament Friday, March 29, 2013, in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Meigs County's Lady Tigers showed Tuesday in their opening game at the Class A softball state tournament that they have more than just pitching ace Ashley Rogers - although they didn't need much more than Rogers against Jackson Christian.

Rogers gave herself the lead with a two-run single in the third inning, then proceeded to finish pitching a no-hitter as Meigs County cruised past the Lady Eagles 9-0 at McKnight Park.

Meigs (36-2) will play Forrest (39-4) today at 6:30 p.m. EDT in a winners-bracket semifinal at Starplex No. 4.

Rogers' tiebreaking hit was followed by Madison Crabtree's home run, making the third a four-run inning.

"It felt good," Crabtree said of her drive over the left-field fence. "I've not been hitting well the last two weeks. It was finally good to get one. (Rogers' hit) got my confidence up. It got my adrenaline going."

The Lady Tigers added single runs in the fourth and fifth, then clubbed two more homers in the sixth. Rogers, who was 3-for-4, had a two-out solo shot and Lindsey Ward followed Crabtree's third hit with a blast to center.

"The three-run homer is what we play for," Meigs coach Jeff Davis said. "We just missed two or three others. We got under them a little bit."

One run may have looked as big as nine, considering Rogers allowed one baserunner. That was on an error starting the fourth, but it was followed by a foulout to the catcher and two of Rogers' 16 strikeouts.

"We made a couple of nice plays to keep the no-hitter," Davis said of six balls Jackson Christian (21-15) put in play. "(Allyson) Crowder made a good play in center and Jade (Meadows) made a good play at first on that girl."

Kassidy Kenny was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored for Meigs.

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.

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