Schools from across Tennessee have been converging on Greeneville for the last 38 years in hopes of taking home the championship of the longest running high school softball tournament in the state, the Tiny Day/Red Edmonds Memorial Tournament.
Following a couple of days of pool play, teams were broken into brackets for single elimination play. Greeneville, North Greene, Chuckey Doak, and West Greene would make up one of the three brackets, while South Greene would be matched up with Sullivan East, Volunteer, and Union County in another.
Jones Twirls No-No
Greeneville and Chuckey Doak started the day off in the first contest with Kayley Garland and Brynlee Jones stealing the show. Jones, who started in the circle for the Lady Devils, was one batter short of a perfect game. She struck out 4 and allowed only 1 Lady Knight to reach base when they were hit by a pitch, only to be quickly erased by an inning ending double play. Garland provided the offensive pop picking up 5 RBI’s in the game with two swings of the bat that resulted in home runs. Lydia Darnell also collected 2 doubles and a single while Madison Carpenter collected 3 singles in the 12-0 win.
West Greene Rebounds to Defeat North Greene
North Greene and West Greene matched up in the second contest and it provided some extra inning excitement. The Lady Huskies got on the board in the top of the first when Matti Phillips would draw a walk, steal second, advance to third on a wild pitch and score as Hannah Brooks reached on a fielding error.
Phillips would once again be the center of attention in the top of the third when she would put North Greene up 2-0 on a solo homer to left. West Greene would get a run back in their half of the third. Kaylee Willett drove a fly ball to deep center that bounced over for a ground rule double. Her courtesy runner would move up on a wild pitch and score on a ground-out, cutting the score to 2-1.
North Greene scored three times in the top of the fourth, making the score 5-1 and looked to run away with it, but the Lady Buffaloes would not be having anything to do with that. Three consecutive singles by Amanda Owens, Addison Peters, and Chloie Reams, loaded the bases and put West Greene into business. An error, followed by an Aubree Everett double and a bunt knotted the score up at 5-5.
Both teams would tack on a run in the fifth before turning the game over to the international tie-breaking rules due to the time limit expiring. The Huskies and Buffaloes would once again each score a run in the sixth to force another inning of “free” softball. Hailey Bailey singled in a run in the top of the seventh and pushed North Greene ahead 8-7, only to see West Greene respond with a Autumn Carter single that drove in two, giving them the 9-8 win and a matchup with Greeneville in the bracket finals.
Devils Topple Buffs
In the final game of the day, Greeneville’s Lady Devils jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage behind Kyla Jobe’s double and Lauren Million’s single. Hayley Arnold started off the top of the second with a double and advance to third on a groundout. She would cross home and cut the lead to 3-1 when an attempted pickoff throw scampered into left field.
Greeneville’s starting pitcher, Leah Phillips, got into trouble in the top of the third when she walked the bases loaded with only one out. The Buffaloes would only be able to come away with a single run as Phillips would get the next hitter to ground out and the next to fly out, ending the threat. The Lady Devils would put the game away by taking advantage of some West Greene miscues allowing them to score six times in the fourth and a single run in the fifth for the 10-2 win. Jobe, who was named the bracket Most Valuable Player, along with Madison Carpenter, collected a double and two singles.
Patriots Slip By Rebels
South Greene looked to advance in bracket play when they took on Sullivan East. The Lady Rebels started the day off scoring twice in the top of the first, only to see the Patriots answer with six runs on six hits in the bottom of the second. After pushing a run across in the top of the third, South Greene would score three more times in the fifth to tie the score up at 6-6.
The Lady Rebels would regain the lead in the top of the sixth 7-6 and look as if they would advance, as time was getting ready to expire. The Patriots, however, would push two across in the bottom and take the 8-7 win. Sullivan East would pound out 10 hits to South Greene’s 5, two singles from Haven Carter, a double from Nevaeh Davis, and singles from Kortnei Bailey and Macy Roberts.
