Hailey Carroll didn't mean to steal the show on senior night, but the Ridgeland High School sophomore did just that in her softball team's most important game of the season.
Carroll, a sophomore, pitched a four-hit shutout Thursday as the host Lady Panthers beat Northwest Whitfield 6-0 and in doing so tied the Lady Bruins atop Region 6-AAAA with 10-2 records. The teams split their season series, but Ridgeland (20-5 overall) earned the No. 1 seed for the region tournament via a tiebreaker (fewer runs allowed between the two teams).
Ridgeland and Northwest (23-2) have byes in the first round of region, which is next week, and have already clinched berths in the state tournament.
"We've been working and working to get that complete-game effort, and it came on senior night," Ridgeland coach Richie Wood said. "Hailey Carroll has been growing and growing as a player, and she's really pitched well these last few games. I'm really happy for her and for these seniors."
The Lady Panthers jumped on Northwest quickly. Carroll pitched a 1-2-3 first inning and Ridgeland sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom half, scoring four runs on three hits and three errors.
Haley Sandridge set the tone with a leadoff single, then went from first to third on a sacrifice bunt. Kiera Foster was hit by a Cara Rann pitch and stole second, with both runners scoring on a single by Katie Davis. The fourth run was scored on an infield error.
"Speed kills, and we know we have to use our speed to disrupt teams," Wood said. "I got a little emotional in pregame, and they came out swinging. We backed it up every inning, and when they hit it, we set them down."
Foster singled to open the bottom of the second and went from first to third on Davis's second hit. Senior Whitney Boehm made it 5-0 with a sacrifice fly. The runs were more than enough for Carroll, who used a strong mix of pitches and allowed only two runners to advance past first base.
"What I have to do is keep my mind focused on the game," Carroll said. "This was a great win for our seniors. I cried a lot before the game because I'm going to miss them. But it's great that we have more games to play together, and our goal is to finish with a state championship."
Davis led Ridgeland's eight-hit attack with three singles, with Sandridge adding a pair of hits.
"We expected at the beginning of the season to be the top seed," Wood said. "We had a few pitfalls early, but we got our act together and now we're playing like we should.
"Getting the top seed is big, but this region is a nightmare. We've had one-run games with the bottom two teams, so you never know what will happen in the tournament."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.