Published: July 02, 2008 01:56 pm            

Olive Hill & Grayson 9/10's score big victories

FLEMINGSBURG -- In the tournament’s opener, the 9/10-year old girls from Olive Hill destroyed Lewis County in four innings 39-4 on Saturday.

Shelby Ferguson walked to open the first and stole her way around the bases to score on a wild pitch. Chancy Gee smacked a single to bring in Abby Damron. Jordy Wiler and Whitney Hall singled to bring in another RBI. Wiler and Hall stole home and Chelsey Thomas slammed a triple to bring in Shayla Greer, who took first on a walk. Sarah Bailey and Katlyn Binion both singled, pushing in one RBI each. Back at the top of the lineup, Ferguson singled with an RBI and Damron walked. Gee singled to load the bases and Wiler singled to push one in. Hall walked to re-load the bases and a double by Thomas pushed in two RBI’s. Bailey singled with an RBI and Binion walked to load the bases. For their third at bat in one inning, Ferguson and Damron walked to push in one runner each.

In the field, pitcher Whitney Hall threw two walks to start, but got in the groove with a strike out and the Grayson defense stopped two grounders.

“It felt really good to win today,” Hall, who threw 39 strikes Saturday, told The Journal-Times. “I threw the whole game and I’m still not tired.”

Back at the plate Wiler and Thomas hit singles, bringing in Hall, who was walked. Both runners then scored on wild pitches. The Grayson defense held Lewis during the bottom of the second with a no run inning.

The girls seemed to slow in the top of the third, with Damron making the lone hit and run. Defensively, the girls in red couldn’t stop one run in the third.

At the top of the fourth, Grayson stood on top 20-4. Ferguson came in on a single by Gee and Wiler walked to load the bases. Hall smacked the 2/1 pitch into center field for a double and two RBI’s. Greer followed suite with a triple that also pushed in two.

“We did really well at the plate,” Greer said. “We stopped everything we could in the field and made some good plays.”

Thomas singled with one RBI and Thompson and Greer walked to load the bases. Ferguson walked to push in one runner and then Damron, Gee and Wiler singled, pushing in one each. Hall walked to push in Damron and came in on a single by Thomas. Tompson walked, pushing in one and Greer, Damron, Gee, Wiler and Hall all singled, bring in one RBI each.

In the bottom of the fourth, Hall stopped a grounder by Lewis’ Kala Swim and threw two strike outs to end the game with a mercy win 39-4.

“We play Olive Hill Thursday, and we are practicing really hard,” Wiler said. “We’ve played those girls before, but not as a team. We’re working on defense and battling at the plate, so we’ll be ready.”

Coach Yedda Martin expects the win to give the team more confidence. “We’ve been working on this for two weeks,” she said. “If they stay aggressive in the field and at the plate, we’re going to do fine.”

Grayson’s 13/14-year old softball team met Olive Hill for a 11-1 win Saturday.

In the top of the first, Erin Randle pushed in two RBI’s with a double. Tiffany “Yoda” McGurie struck out swinging but stole first on a wild pitch, bringing in Randle. Erin Withrow walked to load the bases and Autumn Clevenger and Brianna Clevenger both walked to push in one runner each. Both Clevenger’s and Kaitlyn Savage stole home on wild pitches, so Olive Hill brought in relief pitcher Vanessa Carrol. Ashton Porter smacked a double and Makayla Colley stole home on a wild pitch.

“We’ve all been playing together since we were nine,” McGuire said. “We kept our heads up and came out to win because this is our last shot at a state title.”

In the bottom of one, Whitley Adkins and Carrol both singled, but Porter threw two strikes and a fly to right field by Paige Tackett was stopped.

In the top of the second, Missy Withrow came in on a wild pitch, scoring the only point of the inning. Two Olive Hill batters grounded out to Porter, who threw a strike out to end the inning. The third inning was an exact twin of the second, with the score standing 9-0.

“We knew they weren’t going to make it easy for us,” Porter said. “We’ve been doing lots of infield drills to get ready to meet this team.”

Withrow scored on a single by Haley Bays in the top of the third, taking the 11-0 lead. In the bottom of the fourth, Carrol scored Olive Hill’s lone run on an error.

In the top of the fifth, McGuire and Erin Withrow singled and Clevenger was hit to load the bases, but the Olive Hill defense stopped Grayson from taking a bigger lead.

In the bottom of the fifth and final inning, Megan Centers singled on the 3/1 pitch and stood ready with a big lead off as Shelby Logan came to the plate. McGuire, standing on first at ready dove to catch Logan’s line drive, then jumped up to tag first for a single handed double play. Christy Dean ground out to Porter to close the inning and the game.

“If you have a good pitcher like we do, and a good defense to back her up, that’s all you need,” Coach Randy McGuire said. “They played great ball today and nailed it down in the first inning with nine runs. These girls make my job easy, because I just have to sit back and watch.”

•Big comeback for Olive Hill 9/10-year-olds

Olive Hill’s 9/10-year old All-Stars slid past Fleming County 24-23 Saturday afternoon.

Trailing 22-3 in the bottom of the third, Olive Hill’s defense held Fleming at a stand still in the fourth and fifth. The girls scored twelve runs in the bottom of four and three more in the fifth.

Fleming scored another run, furthering their lead to 24-18, but in the bottom of the sixth and final inning, Olive Hill managed to tie the score. Amber Thornsberry smacked a single to push in Alyssa Shelton for the game winning RBI.

“This was the greatest comeback I have witnessed in my 20 years of coaching either girls or boys Little League,” Coach Mitch Adkins said. “It’s simply amazing to see a bunch of nine and 10 year old girls, down by as many as 19 runs, to come back and win in the bottom of the sixth.” During the intense battle, Brooke Adkins went 4-5 at the plate with four RBI’s and five scoring runs. Sydney Brown scored three times and Patience Jones brought in six RBI’s and also scored five runs. Erika Kitchen brought in three RBI’s and two runs and Alissa Shelton went 4-5 with one RBI and four scoring runs. On the mound, Shelton threw seven strikeouts.

        

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