Knox County Starts Softball Season With No Hit Road Victory

 Knox County Starts Softball Season With No Hit Road Victory

By David Sharp

Knox County began their 2008 varsity softball season in grand style with an August 25, 6-0 no hit victory at South Shelby. Brittany Miller (1-0) struck out 13 batters on the way to the third no hit performance of her three year KCHS softball career.

The Lady Eagles battled South Shelby hurler Ashley Troyer and a tough Lady Bird team through five scoreless innings. Troyer struck out nine Knox County batters on the night.

Ashley Troyer set the first five KCHS batters down in order. Kaley Sutton stroked the first Knox County hit of the season with two down in the second inning. Stacey Leckbee followed by reaching base on a fielder’s choice.

South Shelby ended the threat on a ground out with no scoring. Shelby Schmitz drew the first of five walks issued the Lady Birds leading off the bottom of the first inning.

A strikeout and a ground out to third baseman Myra Parrish retired the side with Schmitz stranded on second base. Brittany Miller struck out the side in the South Shelby second inning.

Knox County mounted another threat in the top of the third inning. Hannah Dale and Myra Parrish stroked one out, back to back singles. The Lady Bird defense held firm and the game remained scoreless through three innings.

Kaley Sutton walked with one down in the KCHS fourth inning. Ashley Troyer slammed the door with two straight strikeouts. Sutton reached base in three of her four plate appearances and had two hits.

The Lady Birds had runners on first and second base in their fifth inning but could not score. Brittney Miller recorded all three outs by strikeout in the South Shelby fifth frame.

Brittney Miller led off the Knox County sixth inning by drawing a walk. Lorrie Peters reached on an error followed by a strikeout. Stacey Leckbee reached on another error. Jodi Poore put the ball in play but the South Shelby defense cut down courtesy runner Lorelei Schlueter at the plate for the second out.

Hannah Dale blasted a three run double. Myra Parrish followed with another clutch two out two RBI base hit. Knox County led by five runs midway through the sixth inning.

“We had a lot of fun starting off,” said sophomore infielder Hannah Dale. “It was time to score some runs. We got a couple of walks. She threw me a drop ball and I was able to hit it. It felt really good.

A walk and an error put two Lady Birds on base leading off the home half of the sixth inning. Three batters in the heart of the Lady Bird lineup were retired in order preserving the no hitter and shutout.

Kaley Sutton drove Lorelei Schlueter home with the sixth KCHS run with a one out RBI single. Brittney Miller walked leading off the KCHS seventh. Arielle Gough walked leading off the South Shelby seventh.

“I was glad with the way the girls played,” said KCHS junior Brittney Miller. “When we go into a place like South Shelby that has been so good in other sports, we go in thinking that we are going to lose. I was proud of the way they went in with their heads up and played hard the whole entire game.”

“We waited until the sixth inning to score, but we held in there the whole game. I was proud of the way they tried to win this game,” said Miller. “We just showed the boys that we could do better in sports.”

Two fly balls and strikeout ended the game. Knox County scored six runs on six hits. South Shelby was blanked with five walks. “Brittney Miller was the show starting out,” said Knox County head coach Stephanie Crawford.

“She had 13 strikeouts. She just dominated on the mound. We had some great defense,” related Coach Crawford. “We were aggressive on the bases, capitalized on our chances and it paid off. Hannah Dale had a bases clearing double to give us the lead.”

“I couldn’t be happier with us showing up with the energy needed to win the game. We came in with the attitude we could win the game and got the job done,” said Crawford.

Hannah Dale, Myra Parrish and Kaley Sutton had two Lady Eagle hits each. Knox County took on Atlanta the next evening for their softball home opener.