Boyd Buchanan bats heat up late in impressive win over CCS

Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Boyd Buchanan sophomore Kinley Ervin tossed a one-hit shutout in Tuesday's road victory over Chattanooga Christian School.
Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Boyd Buchanan sophomore Kinley Ervin tossed a one-hit shutout in Tuesday's road victory over Chattanooga Christian School.

Boyd Buchanan High School's softball program looks to be in its best spot since the program had four state runner-up finishes in a six-year span to open the 21st century.

After spending the past 22 years helping assist the Baylor softball dynasty, Tom Watson sees something special entering his first season with the Lady Buccaneers.

"These girls just have to trust the process. We are young. We have no seniors, but these girls are extremely talented and love the game," said Coach Watson, who led East Ridge to softball state championships in 1996 and 1998. "We are trying to build this program back to where it was in the early 2000s and before that when they won two state titles in the late 80s."

Boyd Buchanan has showed its toughness to open the spring season with an 11-1 home win over GPS on Monday followed by Tuesday's 7-0 road shutout of Chattanooga Christian.

With CCS' Autumn Hughes and Boyd's Kinley Ervin locked in a pitcher's duel through four scoreless innings, the Lady Bucs' bats came to life over the final three innings, collecting 11 of their 15 hits while breaking through for three runs in the fifth and seventh inning.

Freshman catcher Alli Johnson doubled twice as part of a three-hit day along with freshman centerfielder Cailyn Butler. Freshman shortstop Mercedes Smith drove in a game-high three runs and provided a 2-0 lead with her RBI double to the left-centerfield gap in the top of the fifth.

"Mercedes got us started right there with her great at-bat in the fifth," Watson said of his eighth-hole hitter. "Everybody who played tonight contributed. Our girls kept swinging and their hard work at the plate paid off."

Sophomore Kinley Ervin was an ace from the pitching circle. After allowing a leadoff single in the bottom of the first to CCS' Hannah Smith, she did not allow a hit the rest of the way.

Ervin's rise ball led to weak contact with 12 fly outs, while striking out five and walking as many in a complete game shutout. She only needed four pitches in the sixth to retire the side on three pop outs.

"I wasn't surprised Kinley did this well," Watson said. "She makes the ball move and has a good off speed pitch. She is a little different than our other two pitchers. Our pitching coach, Nikki Robbs, called a great game and Kinley and Alli worked great together out there along with our defense."

Boyd's starting nine included: four freshmen, three juniors, an eighth grader and a sophomore.

Gracie Petty, Kiley Elliott and Brooke Watson are the go-to leaders as the junior trio occupies the 3-4-5 spots in the lineup.

"A lot of our girls are still learning how to practice," Watson said. "We have to be good practice players. Then the games become the fun part. I think they had a lot of fun tonight."

Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.

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