Lady Dragons bag first district win
Throughout the 2024 softball season, Clinton High School has battled more than its share of adversity.
The Lady Dragons have yet to play on their new home field due to construction of the facility running behind schedule.
Clinton has also had its share of injuries this season.
But as the Lady Dragons continue to become healthy, things look to finally be coming together for a team that entered the campaign with some lofty expectations.
“The big thing for us is to get everybody healthy,” Coach Leonard Sams said before his team embarked on a busy week. “We’re getting Bree McKamey healthy, and she hasn’t been 100 percent all year.”
Clinton (5-10 overall, 1-1 in District 4-AAA) struggled out of the gate, falling to Class 4A powerhouse Farragut 10-0 on Wednesday, April 3, at Bellamy Field in West Knox County.
The Lady Dragons came up with five hits in the contest as Lynlee Adkins doubled, while McKamey, Heaven Britt-Kimbriel, Tomi Taylor and Sara Bishop all singled against the Lady Admirals.
The following day, the Lady Dragons bounced back to capture their first district victory as they shut out Cumberland Gap 9-0. McKamey went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, a double, a home run and a run scored.
She also started in the circle and pitched five innings for Clinton. She gave up two hits and one walk, while striking out nine Lady Panthers. McKenna Gavin pitched the final two innings and had five strikeouts.
Adkins had four hits, including three doubles, and scored three runs.
Tomi Taylor, Clinton’s shortstop, was recently moved to the lead-off spot, and was 2-for-5 with a home run against Cumberland Gap.
Sams said Taylor has flourished in the top spot in the order.
“We were trying to decide who to put in there and we put Tomi there and she’s done a really good job,” Sams said.
After winning against the Lady Panthers, Clinton played in the Kingsport Easton Tournament.
The Lady Dragons opened tournament play with a 3-2 loss to Greenbrier on Friday. They also dropped a 5-1 decision to West Ridge.
On Saturday, Clinton played four games and won two of those contests. It lost to Richlands 7-0 before bouncing back to outlast Unicoi County 7-3.
Adkins had three hits against the Lady Blue Devils. She doubled, drove in one run and scored another. Taylor homered, while Bishop had two hits and two RBIs. She also scored a run.
Taylor Sherwood went 3-for-3 with a double, two runs and an RBI, while Bishop had two hits. She knocked in two runs and scored another.
Marissa Eccles went 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI, while Britt-Kimbriel was 1-for-4 with a double.
Also on Saturday, the Lady Dragons played Macon-East, a nine-time Georgia State Champion, and prevailed 15-10 in a slugfest.
Britt-Kimbriel was 3-for-5 with two doubles and six RBIs.
Adkins hit two home runs and drove in four runs, while McKamey came up with three hits, drove in two runs and scored another.
Elizabeth Graham had three hits and scored twice, while Taylor had two hits, including a home run.
In their tournament finale, the Lady Dragons dropped a 4-2 decision to Powell despite getting two hits each from Sherwood and Britt-Kimbriel, who also scored a run.
Clinton has a busy week on the diamond. The Lady Dragons played Coalfield on Monday and Scott on Tuesday but results were not available at press time.
They play Anderson County today at 6 p.m. before taking on Union County Thursday.
“We have a big week with three district games,” Sams said.
“But if we play like we did against Powell, Unicoi and Macon-East, we should win and be just fine.”