Lady Mavs show progress during weekend tournament

March 29, 2023 by Ken Lay

It was a weekend of mixed results for the Anderson County High School softball team as the Lady Mavericks competed in the Carter Invitational in Strawberry Plains.

Lady Mavericks Coach Allen Russell, however, is pleased with his young squad’s progress.

“You can see us getting better,” Russell said.

ACHS opened the tournament with a 4-3 victory over Fulton Friday night.

It was Anderson County’s second win of the season over the Lady Falcons. The Lady Mavs defeated Fulton 18-3 on March 20 in Knoxville.

In the second meeting between the two teams, the Lady Mavericks fell behind 1-0 as the Lady Falcons scored the first run of the contest in the second inning.

Anderson County, however, would come back to nab the victory on a walk-off single by Alli McKamey in the bottom of the sixth inning in a game called by the tournament time limit.

Kaitlyn McKamey went the distance for ACHS in the pitching circle. She pitched six innings and surrendered three runs, five hits and three walks. She had three strikeouts against the Lady Falcons.

McKayla Simmons went 2-for-3 with a triple and a run scored.

Despite the victory, Russell said that the Lady Mavericks didn’t have their best game against Fulton.

In its second game Friday night, ACHS dropped a 6-3 decision against Cocke County.

“We lost to Cocke County and they’re a pretty good team,” Russell said.

Ashlynn Grisham went 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI.

McKenna Miller pitched for ACHS and threw a five-inning complete game. She surrendered six runs (four earned) and 14 hits. She fanned three Cocke County hitters.

On Saturday, the Lady Mavericks dropped a heartbreaker as they fell 4-3 against Jefferson County. The Lady Patriots won in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the fifth, and scored four runs in their final at-bat.

Reece Miller went 2-for-3 and scored one run and drove in another for ACHS, which scored three times in the top of the third.

Simmons was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and Alli McKamey had a pair of hits and drove in two runs.

The Lady Mavericks closed out tournament play with a 3-3 tie against the Karns Lady Beavers.

In that game, the Lady Mavericks scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth during their final plate appearance against Lady Beavers pitcher Alyssa Maples.

“We came back and scored three runs to tie the game against their ace pitcher,” Russell said. “It ended in a tie due to the tournament time limit.”

Reece Miller, McKenna Miller and Kaitlyn McKamey each drove in runs in the sixth inning for the Lady Mavericks.

ACHS returned to the diamond Monday night and edged Oak Ridge 6-5 at home.

The Lady Mavs pounded out 11 hits against the Lady Wildcats, including six that went for extra bases.

Kaitlyn McKamey had two doubles and Lily Summers chipped in with a double and a triple.

Reece Miller and Alexis Siebers also doubled for Anderson County.