Late-inning rally prevents Tennessee sweep

A late-game rally allowed Team Georgia to salvage a tie in the nightcap of the 20th annual Stump on Sports Tennessee-Georgia AllStar Softball Classic last Tuesday night at Chattanooga’s Frost Stadium.

After falling behind 9-1 two innings into the second game of the doubleheader, the girls from the Peach State pushed home solo runs in the top of the third and fifth innings before scoring three times in the sixth to tighten things up.

Then, down to their final out in the seventh, Team Georgia was able to rally.

Morgan Parris (Heritage) got it going with a two-out RBIdouble and Ashlyn Barnes (Calhoun) reached on an error before Alyssa Ward (Northwest Whitfield) drove in Parris with a single. However, an error on the tail end of the play allowed Barnes to motor all the way from first base with the tying run.

Georgia then sat down Tennessee in order in the bottom of the frame.

As the clock reached 10:30 pm., the teams’ coaches agreed to play one final inning, hoping to determine a winner. Georgia left a runner at second in the top of the eighth and Tennessee used two walks and a single to load the bases in their final at-bat, only to see the night end with a fly ball to seal the 9-9 tie.

The tie was the first in the history of the AllStar Classic.

Jana Johns (Calhoun) made a litte history of her own. The University of South Carolina softball signee was named the Georgia Player of the Game after tying the All-Star Classic record with four hits on the night. She went 3-for-4 in Game

2, whacking a two-run homer and finishing with three RBIs.

Johns also became the first female athlete in Tennessee-Georgia All-Star history to earn Georgia Player of the Game honors in two different sports. The future Gamecock earned the award in the All-Star Basketball Classic on June 5.

Barnes was 3-for-5 in the twinbill, scoring twice, while Parris finished the second

game by going 2-for-3 with a pair of runscoring doubles. Sydney Smith (Heritage) also recorded an RBI.

Memphis-bound Delaney Smith (Rhea County) was named the Tennessee Player of the Game after tying a record with five runs scored on the evening. She added two hits and swiped three bases. Emily Harkleroad (Silverdale Baptist) went 3-for-4 in Game 2 with a two-run homer and struck out two batters in three innings’ in the circle. Kendall Farr (Red Bank) blasted a three-run bomb in the

first inning of Game 2.

Shonna Penney (Soddy-Daisy) got the Game 2 win, while Lindsey Shepherd (Trion) was saddled with the loss.

The night’s opener was all Volunteer State as they scored three times in the first, second, third, sixth and seventh innings for a decisive 15-2 victory.

Madison Crabtree (Meigs County), the night’s Most Valuable Player, also tied the record with four hits, but became the first player in the event’s history to collect all four hits in the same

game. She went 4-for4, drew a walk, scored once and knocked in three runs with a second-inning triple.

Kallie Hawkins (Polk County) was 3-for-5 with an RBI in Game 1, while Ali King (Walker Valley) went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and three RBIs to help pitcher Brooke Parrott (Chattanooga Central) get the win.

Cortney Mooneyham (Ridgeland) and Bailey Miller (Gordon Lee) had the lone RBIs for Georgia.

Morgan Crawford (Ridgeland) took the loss.