Davis lifts Lady Phoenix past Adairsville with pitching, bat
Sonoraville senior Kristen Davis propelled the Lady Phoenix to a down-to-the-wire 2-0 victory over the Adairsville Lady Tigers with both her pitching proficiency and hitting abilities on Thursday.
In the circle, Davis was nearly flawless while keeping the Adairsville hitters guessing through seven innings of work. Keeping runners off the bases until the sixth and not allowing a hit until the seventh, she picked up the win by striking out nine batters, including punching out six of the first nine opponents she faced.
“This is just who Kristen is,” Sonoraville head coach Chad Hayes said. “She just comes out here, does her job and never gets rattled. Anytime she gets in trouble, she just bears down and stays in control of the game, and we know we can always rely on her for these
“We’ve got to play better offensively and have more rhythm on that side of the ball,” said Lamb.
“We also need to win the turnover battle and contain their quarterback. We know he’s going to be able to types of performances.”
Aside from a Shayna Dutton single in the fifth, base hits and baserunners were few and far between for both offenses in the initial frames.
However, the Lady Phoenix (12-2, 9-1 in 6-AAA) managed to spark a late rally in the bottom of the sixth when Karley Thomas used her speed to leg out a single. Sandra Beth Pritchett responded by depositing a looping single into left field to place runners at the corner.
Davis then stepped up and delivered perhaps the moment of the game by slicing a single into center field and bringing the two runners home to put the Lady Phoenix in the driver’s seat.
“I was a little worried about our offense today because we had so much time off from seeing live pitching due to the holiday weekend,” Hayes said. “Fortunately, our lineup started to click again towards the end there and we were able to push a couple runs across, which is all Kristen needs when she is pitching like that.”
The Lady Tigers (3-17, 1-9 in 6-AAA) attempted to mount its own rally in the seventh by putting baserunners on via a single and an error, but Davis settled back in and forced an easy fly out to lock in the victory. The result allowed Sonoraville to maintain its impressive run atop the Region 6-AAA standings. They hold a one-game advantage in the loss make some plays, but we’ve got to find a way to contain him somewhat and not dictate the game.”
Prediction:
The Jackets sent a message out to the rest of 6-AAA last week that they are still at the top column over Coahulla Creek and a two-game advantage in the loss column over Calhoun and Haralson County.
Hayes noted that he’s pleased with the progress his team has made over the course of the season to this point.
“Every game in this region is a battle, and we know coming in that wins are going to have to be earned,” Hayes said. “But I’m proud of the strides we have taken in each phase of the game. Of course, there are times you would like more run support or better of the mountain in the region, and it’s going to be almost impossible to knock them off their perch.
North Murray has shown steady improvement in their program over the last several years and could defense, but we have found a way to consistently pick up wins and at the end of the day that is all that matters.”
Sonoraville was scheduled to host Haralson County on Monday in another region contest, but that game was postponed due to weather and will be made up on Sept. 25 at 5:30 p.m. They were home again on Tuesday to host Coahulla Creek. ( For details on that game, see Saturday’s Calhoun Times.) They will visit Murray County on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. have their deepest and most talented team in 2018. But Calhoun’s talent and depth have been on another level for the past 17 seasons from the rest of the teams in their region, and that hasn’t changed this year.
The Jackets will have another convincing region win on Friday on the road and take one step closer to breaking the state record for consecutive region titles.
Score:
42-14. Calhoun wins,