The Warren County High School softball team got a double dose of District 6-AAA play Thursday night when the Rhea County Lady Eagles came to town.
The Lady Pioneers lost 6-3 in the first game before snapping a six-game losing streak in the second game with a 4-3 victory.
Warren County (5-16) had gone without a win since March 31, when the Lady Pioneers beat Cumberland County 8-7 on the road. Since the start of April, the Lady Pioneers had struggled to an 0-5 record before Rhea County came to town for a district doubleheader. The losing looked destined to continue until Warren County rallied from a 3-0 deficit to top the Lady Eagles in game two on its home turf.
Rhea County scored three runs in the opening inning off starter Lindsey Cox. But after surrendering three hits to start the game, Cox allowed only two more hits the rest of the way while shutting down the Lady Eagle offense.
Warren County started chipping away at the deficit in the bottom of the first inning when lead-off batter Bailey Walker singled and scored. Walker came around on a RBI groundout by freshman Neva Tackett.
Both Walker and Tackett would also play a big role in the second inning when Warren County rallied to take the lead for good in the five-inning affair.
The Lady Pioneers got a gift to start the second inning when senior Chelsey Chandler reached on an error by the Rhea County shortstop. Chandler would move up on a sacrifice by Emma Holmes before Lexi Locke put runners on the corners with a single to center field.
Third-base coach Paul Martin decided to roll the dice when he sent Chandler charging home after Walker put the ball in play to the pitcher. The risk worked out as Chandler was able to get home while Walker was thrown out at first after the RBI groundout.
Cox extended the rally – and tied the game – with an RBI single into center field to score Locke with two outs. Ty Ramirez kept the rally going when she singled up the middle as well, then Tackett put the Lady Pioneers on top with a single to left field. Cox scored on Tackett’s hit, though the rally was halted when Ramirez was caught trying to take third base while her teammate scored.
It was all the advantage Cox needed though as the sophomore hurler went a stretch where she retired 11-of-12 batters from the last out of the first inning until the start of the seventh.
Rhea County tried to forge a comeback when Delaney Smith slapped a one-out single in the top of the final inning. Ramirez redeemed herself from the base-running blunder early though when she snapped off a hard line drive and tossed to Tackett at first before Smith could retreat back to the bag.
The win pushed the team’s district record to 3-5, though the mark was dented in game one. Rhea County took a 4-0 lead in the first inning and the Lady Pioneers never recovered while falling in the opening game of the doubleheader.
The Lady Eagles got three unearned runs early as senior Kailyn Cantrell walked two and hit another in the first inning. An error also helped extend the rally for Rhea County, which was punctuated by a two-run single by Emily Barnett.
Warren County found itself down 5-0 before the home team finally put a run across in the bottom of the second. Chelsey Chandler led off the bottom of the second with a double and ultimately would come around to score her team’s first run.
Rhea County pushed its advantage back to five with a run in the fourth inning before the Lady Pioneers tried to mount a late rally.
Ramirez started the bottom of the fifth with a single and was immediately joined on base by Tackett when she doubled to center field. Abby Hutchins loaded the bases by drawing a walk, but bad luck would befall the Lady Pioneers when Liza Harvey’s hot shot heading toward the hole hit Hutchins on the foot. Hutchins was called out while Ramirez, who scored easily on the play, and Tackett were returned to third and second base, respectively.
An error helped the Lady Pioneers score a run while keeping the bases loaded and Abbi Reyes made it 6-3 with a RBI groundout, but the game ended when Harvey was tagged out at home after trying to score on a passed ball.
The Lady Pioneers will try to make a push in the district standings this week with home games against Cumberland County and White County.