Clinton falls at Halls before routing Karns at home
Clinton High School’s softball team had a brief break from competition late last week, but the Lady Dragons were busy early as they faced two of the top teams from District 3-4A.
They split a pair of games, losing at Knoxville Halls 3-2 on Monday, March 9, before routing Karns 7-1 at home the following day.
“We played two great teams this week and we’ve played a tough schedule,” Clinton Coach Leonard Sams said.
“And our schedule is only going to get tougher. We’ll play Ooltewah on Friday in a tournament in Chattanooga.
“We’ll play some good teams in Chattanooga and then we’ll play Gibbs in our first district game and then we’ll go up to Northeast Tennessee and we’ll play some good teams up there,” he said.
In the loss to Halls, a late error proved costly for the Lady Dragons (2-2).
“That was another game where we had an error,” Sams said. “If we don’t get turned around in the outfield and give up two runs, we win that game 2-1.”
Clinton grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Mandy Chambers blasted a solo home run. Chambers went 3-for-4, drove in both Lady Dragons runs and scored once.
Halls answered with two runs in the bottom of the first.
Sara Bishop doubled and scored for Clinton.
In the circle, Elizabeth Maples pitched six innings. She surrendered three runs, two earned, on seven hits and three walks. She struck out five in a complete-game effort against the Lady Devils.
Facing a short turnaround, the Lady Dragons returned to the diamond the next day and posted a 7-1 victory over the Lady Beavers.
Sams made a lineup change against Karns, moving Bishop from the leadoff spot to the cleanup role in the heart of the order.
The move paid off.
Bishop went 2-for-3, blasted a three-run home run and finished with four RBIs.
McKenley Osborne added a hit and a run scored, while Bryana Holt had a hit, an RBI and a run scored. Maples scored twice.
Elizabeth Graham had two hits, including a triple, and scored a run.
“Sara is swinging a hot bat and we wanted to move her down to an RBI spot,” Sams said. “We’re still moving people around and we’re still trying to figure it out.”
In the win over Karns, Clinton got a masterful performance in the circle from Chambers.
“She did a great job,” Sams said. “She did a good job with her locations and she did a good job changing speeds.”
Chambers tossed a two-hitter and allowed only a solo home run against the Lady Beavers. She struck out four over seven innings in a complete-game effort, and did not walk a batter.
