Lady Dragons’ new digs
Clinton softball has a new home, finally
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Clinton’s senior pitching ace Bree McKamey was in the circle for the Lady Dragons’ first game at the team’s new home. Prior to opening night, the Lady Dragons played all home games at Lakefront Park. Mc- Kamey has had a banner year inside the circle for the Lady Dragons and recorded strikeout number 600 during the previous week’s play. - Tony Cox
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Anderson County Director of Schools Tim Parrott threw out the cermonial first pitch on the Lady Dragons’ new home field, which is next to Clinton High School. - Tony Cox
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Clinton’s Tomi Taylor hit a single with the first official Lady Dragons at bat on the new field. The Lady Dragons beat Scott 12-0 and 13-0 in a doubleheader Monday. - Tony Cox
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Lady Dragons seniors leave their mark on the new indoor batting facility. - Tony Cox
A long wait finally came to an end for the seniors on the Clinton High School softball team early this week.
The school system has been working on a new field for several years, and the team finally played on it for the first time on Monday.
Clinton hosted Scott in a District 4-AAA doubleheader, and the seniors finally got to see what the new field feels like.
For the record, Clinton swept the Lady Highlanders to christen its new home.
The Lady Dragons defeated Scott 12-0 in the first game as junior Bree McKamey pitched a no-hitter and recorded eight strikeouts.
Clinton won the second game, 13-0.
McKamey struck out the first three Scott players to bat.
Senior shortstop Tomi Taylor singled to lead off the game for the Lady Dragons, securing their first hit in the new digs.
In the second game, McKamey tossed a three-hitter and struck out 10.
The doubleheader sweep netted the Lady Dragons the No. 2 seed in the coming District 4-AAA tournament, which will be hosted by Gibbs. Tournament play begins Monday night in Corryton.
The Lady Dragons, who have reached the Region 2-AAA tournament in each of the last two seasons, are looking to go deeper in the postseason in 2024, but all that took a back seat at least for a little while.
“My thing is that this is all for our seniors,” Clinton Coach Leonard Sams said. “It’s been a four-year wait for them and they’ve all worked so hard on this field.”
Center fielder Marissa Eccles is one of those seniors who finally got the chance to play on the field.
“I remember coming here to the meetings as a seventh-grader at Clinton Middle because I knew that I was coming here for high school,” Eccles said. “We all worked on the field. This is exciting.
“We hung the nets and worked on the dugouts and we all helped put down the turf. It’s great just to take a moment and take it all in.”