The Warren County Middle School softball team started its quest for back-to-back Central Tennessee Conference titles with a sweep of Shelbyville Harris last week.
The Lady Pioneers went to Shelbyville and won 12-5 in extra innings Thursday, then returned home Friday and hammered Harris 11-3.
Warren County (3-0) had to sweat through the first victory in the series as the team rallied to tie the game at 4-4 in the top of the fifth.
When the extra innings started, the Lady Pioneer bats woke up. MaKenna Mason, Marah Wanamaker and Kyra Hillis each had RBI hits in the top of the sixth to help Warren County triple its run total from the first five innings.
With an eight-run lead to work with, Ashton Whiles finished her complete game by retiring Harris in the sixth inning while allowing a lone run. Whiles earned the win by going six innings and allowing five runs on three hits while striking out four.
Coach Gooby Martin was glad to see his team wouldn’t need extra innings to win Friday at home, but the Lady Pioneers did have to make an early comeback before running away with a big victory.
Shelbyville went ahead 2-0 in the top of the first as starting pitcher Hope Mullican allowed a lead-off double and let two runners score on wild pitches. Mullican would settle down from that point to hold the visitors to one more run in the final four innings while earning her second win this season.
Warren County wasted no time getting the lead back in Friday’s game. Whiles ignited a four-run first inning by leading off with a double. She’d come around to score on a double by Mullican on the next pitch.
The Lady Pioneers took advantage of walks and errors to plate three more runs in the first and build a 4-2 lead.
After scoring one more run in the second, Warren County blew the game open by plating six runs in the fourth inning. Emily Mikkola knocked in two runs during the frame while Hillis, Wanamaker and Mason also had run-scoring singles.
Hailey Wood, Shonacye Rutledge and Lexie Chadwell got into the offensive explosion Friday with hits during the eight-run win. Mullican finished the game with three strikeouts while allowing three runs on three hits.
Warren County will try to extend its winning streak to four games Tuesday when the team plays host to Prescott South. The first pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.