Russell upbeat about development of young team

April 3, 2024 by Ken Lay

Anderson County High had a tough week on the softball diamond, or so it appeared.

The Lady Mavericks lost all three times times they took the field late last week.

But Coach Allen Russell remained upbeat as his team continued to develop and overcome some slow starts to compete against some of the area’s top teams.

“It was a good week for our kids,” he said. “We didn’t win, but it was still a good week. If we compete and play like we did late in those games, then we’ll be just fine.”

Anderson County closed out the week with a pair of wild games at home on Good Friday.

To open the day, the Lady Mavericks tangled with William Blount, a top Class 4A team in the area, and saw a comeback effort come up just short in an 8-6 loss to the Lady Governors.

Anderson County (2-7 overall, 0-1 in District 4-AAA) fell behind early as the Lady Governors scored twice in the first and added two more runs in the second to pull ahead 4-0.

The Lady Mavs trimmed the deficit to 4-1 in the third before William Blount appeared to put things away with four runs in the fifth. ACHS, however, didn’t go away as it put up five runs in the seventh after trailing 7-1.

Kaycee Baldwin, the Lady Mavs’ leadoff hitter and centerfielder, was 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, a stolen base and an RBI, while Alexis Sieber went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

In their final game of the week, the Lady Mavs came up on the short end of a 16-15 decision in a slugfest against Oliver Springs.

The game was a back-and forth affair as ACHS pounded out 16 hits, and the Lady Bobcats came up with 22 hits.

“Man, that was exciting,” Russell said. “We didn’t win, but we battled and competed, and in a game that close, one mistake could cost you the game. We made a lot of mistakes, but when we fell behind, we didn’t lie down.”

Baldwin was 4-for-5 against the Lady Bobcats and had three extra-base hits (including two doubles and a triple). She scored three runs and drove in another, while Miranda McCracken went 2-for-4.

Reece Bock went 2-for-5 and scored twice, and had an RBI, as she was hitting ninth in a lineup. She had been batting second but found a home quickly lower in the order.

“She’s a freshman and she was putting a lot of pressure on herself,” Russell said. “ I had her batting second, but I moved her down and told her to relax and get on and let Kaycee drive her in.”

Addy Grooms had two hits, including a double and an RBI, while freshman Ella Varner hit her first career home run.

On Thursday, the Lady Mavericks opened District 4-AAA play with a 5-3 loss at home to Union County.

“That game was 0-0 going into the fifth and they scored four runs,” Russell said.

“And we finally got our bats going, but it was too late.”

The Lady Patriots extended their advantage to 5-0 in the seventh before Anderson County responded with three runs in its final at-bat.

Marlea Finstad hit a two-run homer and Siebers doubled, drove in a run and scored.