GRAY — The Ridgeview Lady Raptors banged out 10 hits and capitalized on seven Rogersville City School errors to hand the Lady Warriors a 13-0 loss in the Area 2-A championship game on Monday, April 29, and claim the league’s top seed in the Class A Section 1 softball tournament.
Three teams from each area advance to the state sectional tournament, which is set for May 4-7 at Boones Creek Elementary School.
As Area 2’s runner-up, RCS (20-4) will face Unaka, the No. 2 seed from Area 1, on Saturday, May 4, at 2:15 p.m. That winner will move on to battle the winner of the noon matchup between Unicoi and Gray in the sectional semifinals. Unicoi is Area 3’s No. 1 seed, while Gray defeated Sulphur Springs in Monday’s consolation game to claim Area 2’s No. 3 seed.
In the upper half of the bracket, Area 1 champion Cloudland will face Grandview, Area 3’s No. 3 seed, on Saturday at noon, while Area 2 champion Ridgeview will face Area 3 runner-up North Greene at 2:15 p.m. Those winners will meet in the other sectional semifinal.
The sectional semifinals are scheduled for Monday, May 6, at 5 p.m. on adjacent fields. The semifinal winners will meet Tuesday, May 7, at 5 p.m. in the sectional title game for a trip to the TMSAA Class A state softball tournament.
Monday’s game
Ridgeview and RCS split during the regular season and shared the conference championship. Early on, Monday’s game looked to be another battle between the two heavy hitters with Ridgeview’s Jayden Jenkins locked in a pitcher’s duel with RCS’ Bailey Bledsoe and Anna Mae Boyd.
Ridgeview took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Emmi Croley blasted a leadoff triple and then came in to score when Jenkins reached on an infield error.
That’s where it’d stand until the fifth when the wheels came off for RCS. The Lady Raptors used three hits, two error and a hit batter to plate six runs. They’d add two more in the sixth and four in the seventh to walk away with the win.
Jenkins held RCS to just two hits, both by Rylee Sivert. She walked two and struck out 14 in a complete-game shutout for the Lady Raptors.
Bledsoe, easing her way back from an injury, allowed just one hit in two scoreless innings. She struck out two. Boyd, who threw both of Saturday’s tournament games, came on in relief and gave up nine hits, walked three and struck out three.
Only three of Ridgeview’s 13 runs were earned.
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