Lady Mavs look impressive during Alabama spring break tournament
The Anderson County Lady Mavericks opened the 2022 softball season in a 49-team tournament in Gulf Shores, Ala., last week.
On Monday, the Lady Mavs beat 7A Huntsville (Ala.) 7-5 in three innings.
“They’re one of the top teams in Alabama,” said Allen Russell, head coach of the Lady Mavs.
The Lady Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first but the Lady Mavs answered with seven runs in the top of the second.
The Lady Panthers rallied for three runs in the bottom of the third, but that was all they could get.
Reece Simpson pitched all three innings and picked up the win. She surrendered four earned runs and struck out three.
At the plate, McKenna Miller was 2-3 with two RBI. Makayla Simmons was 2-2, while Leah Freeman was 1-2 and Kenzie Horton was 1-2 with an RBI. Audrey Lankford was 1-3 with an RBI and a stolen base. Mackenzie Henderson and Hannah Hooks each added an RBI as well.
In the second game Monday, Anderson County beat Mooresville (Mississippi) 2-1 in five innings.
“They’re [Mooresville] a really good team, but we probably should have won bigger,” Russell said.
Simpson pitched a gem as she went all five innings and struck out six, walked one, and allowed no earned runs.
Offense was sparse, but Lankford walked twice, stole a base, and scored two runs. Henderson was 1-3 with an RBI, while Freeman was 1-3 with a double. Miller went 1-3 and Hooks went 1-2.
Tuesday’s scheduled games were rained out, forcing them to be played Wednesday. It appeared the rain washed away any momentum the Lady Mavs had as they dropped a game to Mt. Juliet (Tenn.) by a score of 9-0 in five innings.
Mt. Juliet scored a run in the second and added eight in the fourth as they held the Lady Mavs to just two hits - singles by Horton and Miller.
In their second game, Anderson County fell to Lincoln County, also by a score of 9-0.
Lincoln County scored twice in the second, two more in the fourth and five in the fifth. Again, the Lady Mavs were held to just two hits, those coming from Henderson and Simpson.
Russell said the rain out could have impacted his team.
“We just didn’t play very well but we played two really good teams. Of the two teams that beat us, one made the final eight and one made the final four out of 49 teams. Offensively, we couldn’t get anything going,” Russell said.
On Monday, the Lady Mavs beat Colbert County (Ala.) 7-0 at the Ripken Experience in Pigeon Forge.
“We probably should have won by a larger margin. We had a lot of hard hit balls that were caught- hard line drives hit right at them,” said Russell.
Simpson was dominant inside the circle as she pitched seven innings and allowed just one hit. That one hit came with one out in the seventh. She struck out eight and walked three.
“Not to put it on the JV girls but we tried to get some girls in the game in the last inning and our JV girls had a little miscommunication on a ground ball, a little infield chopper on that turf and both watched it go by and the runner made it on base. I think if our varsity girls would have been playing she would have had a no-no [no hitter],” Russell said.
Henderson got the offensive fireworks started early as she hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first to help stake Anderson County to a 3-0 lead.
The Lady Mavs added three more runs in the sixth as Freeman, Simmons, and McKamey each drove in a run.
Henderson finished the game 2-3 with a home run, a double, and three RBI.
Miller, Freeman, and Hooks each had a multiple hit game.
The Lady Mavs will host Oak Ridge Thursday at 6 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to be played in Oak Ridge.
Anderson County will play in the Hixson Wildcat Classic on Friday and Saturday. Opponents and times are to be announced. They will host Scott next Tuesday (March 29) at 6 p.m.
