For six and a half innings, things were going Elizabethton’s way. Unfortunately, the bottom of the seventh didn’t follow suit.
The Lady Cyclones saw their season come to a heartbreaking close with a 6-5 loss to CAK in an elimination game in the TSSAA Class AA softball tournament. CAK rallied to plate three runs in the home side of the seventh to take the win.
Elizabethton set the tone early.
The Lady Cyclones opened the game on an Abbi McKinney single, and McKinney scored when Maci West hit a single to right field. Kaylen Shell, who was pinch running for Lauren Brickey after a single, crossed home plate on a Jessica Cunningham sac fly to give Elizabethton a 2-0 lead. The Lady Warriors got a run back in the home side of the frame as EHS held a 2-1 advantage after an inning of play.
Neither team could get anything going offensively in the second, but the Lady Cyclone bats came alive again in the third.
Brickey and West hit two-out singles to get on base, while Cunningham hit a single to bring Brickey across the plate. West scored off of an Autumn Hensley single to give Elizabethton a 4-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the fourth, CAK plated a run with a two-run homerun from Sydney Fiestner, and the Lady Cyclones held a 4-3 lead entering the final inning.
Elizabethton added a run in the top of the seventh as Macie Herrmann scored on a Cunningham single to give EHS a 5-3 advantage. CAK, however, wanted to play spoiler.
After a catcher’s interference put Kayla Domon on base, Cassidy Heemsoth tied the game with a two-run shot to center field. The Lady Warriors worked to get runners on base, and Fiestner hit a deep single to advance CAK in the tournament.
Cunningham went 3-for-3 with 3 RBI, while Brickey was 3-for-4. West went 2-for-4. Hensley and McKinney had a hit a piece.
In the pitching circle, Brickey allowed just three earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts in six innings of work. Kellie Cunningham allowed one run on four hits.
