Marion County shortstop Breanna Vinson breaks toward the ball while Whitwell’s Alyssa Coppinger heads toward third. The Whitwell Lady Tigers visited the Marion County Lady Warriors in TSSAA softball action Thursday in JasperMarion County senior Harlie Jordan was having some difficulty finding her comfort zone as a pitcher and a batter Wednesday night during the District 6-A softball tournament at Lookout Valley’s O’Mary Conard Field.
Once Jordan found her stride in the circle and rediscovered her stroke with a new bat, she sparked the Lady Warriors to their second straight 6-A tourney title with a 5-2 win over a youthful Sale Creek squad.
Both teams will advance to next week’s Region 3-A tournament.
When Jordan made an emergency relief appearance, Sale Creek appeared poised to tag the Lady Warriors with their first 2016 loss against a district foe. Entering a 1-1 game in the fourth inning after dominating starter Taylor Roberts fell ill with a recurring stomach virus, Jordan was greeted with consecutive singles by Cindy Poe and Kristen Sharp before Taylor Day brought Poe home from third with a groundout for a 2-1 lead.
After allowing a first-inning run on a two-out single by Haley Baker, Sale Creek senior starter McKenna Morgan settled into a groove that kept the Lady Warriors off balance until Jordan came to the plate with two outs in the fifth. Having broken her favorite bat while practicing last week, she had been struggling to unleash the lightning in her powerful left-handed swing until the new bat crushed a homer that traveled 210 feet in less than four seconds.