Unaka wasn’t going to be denied on Thursday.
The Lady Rangers jumped out in the second inning and never looked back in a 9-0 victory over North Greene to claim the District 1-A Championship at Happy Valley.
With the win, Unaka will host a Region 1-A semifinal on Monday, May 15.
After North Greene’s Zoe Sanders hit a triple on the game’s first pitch, Alana Parsons came up with a huge defensive play in the next at-bat for the Lady Rangers as she nabbed a line drive and then threw Sanders out for the double play.
That proved to keep North Greene off the board, and the Lady Huskies returned the favor in the home side of the frame.
Unaka’s offense came up big in the bottom of the second.
Kendall Bare and Kylie Blevins hit singles to lead the inning off before Jill Faust, Hailey Gilman, and Mattie Salyer drew walks to plate two runs. With the bases still loaded, Lyndie Ramsey hit a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Faust to tag up and score.
Trinity Bowers hit a single to bring Salyer across home plate and give Unaka a 5-0 lead after two complete innings.
Neither team got on the board until the Lady Rangers struck in the bottom of the fifth.
Gilman put the ball in play to score Kylie Blevins, and Gilman scored off a Kendall Barton single.
The inning was capped as Ramsey hit a double that score Salyer to give Unaka an 8-0 lead.
In the top of the sixth, North Greene was able to load the bases with two outs. However, the Lady Rangers didn’t budge and kept the Lady Huskies off the board.
Alana Parson put an exclamation point on the win in the bottom of the sixth as she hit a solo home run over the left field fence.
Ramsey finished with three RBI and two hits, while Parsons and Blevins each added two hits.
Sadie Shoun, who was named the tournament MVP, struck out six batters in the pitching circle and allowed just five hits.
Shoun was joined on the all-tournament team by Parsons, Gilman, Bare, and Bowers.
Cambell Gaby led North Greene with two hits.
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