Meigs County takes aim at Class AA state title next [photos]

Meigs County's Lady Tigers rush to the pitcher's circle to celebrate their advancing to the TSSAA state softball tournament for a fourth consecutive year after defeating Sequatchie County 7-0 on Sunday. Meigs won the last two Class A titles but this year they're competing in Class AA.
Meigs County's Lady Tigers rush to the pitcher's circle to celebrate their advancing to the TSSAA state softball tournament for a fourth consecutive year after defeating Sequatchie County 7-0 on Sunday. Meigs won the last two Class A titles but this year they're competing in Class AA.

DECATUR, Tenn. - Meigs County has the opportunity to win a third consecutive state softball title this week in Murfreesboro. The Lady Tigers rode the pitching of Ashley Rogers and the power in their lineup as they defeated Sequatchie County 7-0 in a TSSAA state sectional Sunday afternoon at Meigs County.

The difference this year is the Lady Tigers have moved to Class AA. Their previous championships came at the Class A level.

"We're pretty confident," said Meigs County's Aubrey Reed, a Toledo signee who accounted for the game's final two runs with a home run in the fifth inning after Kaylie Moore had doubled in two. "We knew moving up we were going to have to get used to playing new teams. They're bigger schools, with more talent. As long as we work hard, I like our chances."

Meigs (30-3) will open against White House Heritage (28-7) at Starplex No. 2 at 6:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday.

"It's just new people," Meigs coach Jeff Davis said of the change in classification. "We've been to the state tournament the last three years in Class A. At least half of them were the same people every time. We knew what to expect. That's the biggest difference."

Moore and Reed also accounted for the Lady Tigers' first-inning run when they hit back-to-back singles with one out. Moore scored from first and Reed ended up on third when her hit was misplayed in the outfield.

Reed also played an important role as the catcher for Rogers. The Tennessee-bound right-hander struck out the first 11 batters she faced on the way to pitching a two-hitter with no walks and 16 strikeouts.

"She's definitely dedicated to her training, and she gets super focused," Reed said. "She gets zeroed in on the batters, especially when it's an intense game. In certain situations, she's throws it harder in that kind of game."

Davis said the only credit he'll take for Rogers' performance is that he wrote her name on the lineup card.

Sequatchie coach Kelly Somerville - who pitched for the University of Tennessee at Martin in the early-to-mid 2000s - had high praise, too.

"That kid pitching is as good as anybody you're ever going to see," Somerville said with a laugh. "We saw her last year in a tournament at Warner Park. In practice, getting ready to face her, we turned the pitching machine up as high as it would go. I even got out there and threw them some riseballs.

"There is nothing to hang your head about not being able to hit off her."

Davis said he thought his team was "a little tight at the plate" in the beginning, but he also praised Lady Indians sophomore pitcher MacKenzie Turner, noting the seven strikeouts she had was the most in a game against his Lady Tigers all season. With two outs in the fourth, Turner had Summer Skinner 0-2, then surrendered a two-run homer down the left-field line.

"As well as Ashley can pitch, you get one or two runs and you think you're going to be OK," Davis said. "But when it's just this close, one bang can bring them back into it. I think Summer's home run loosened us up."

Sequatchie (24-15), which had three senior starters Sunday, started its District 7 regular season 0-2, then ended up being the district tournament champion.

"We've got a lot of young kids - four freshmen and four sophomores on varsity," Somerville said. "This will be good experience for us, if we're fortunate enough to be back in the playoffs next year. We'll be a little bit more seasoned."

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

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