For the Daily Journal
Edinburgh senior Bailey Woodall struck out 11 batters in five innings, yet it was her batting that had her all smiles after Thursday night’s 11-0 victory against Morristown.
“I’ve been in a slump hitting, and I was kind of iffy about it,” Woodall said. “I had to get out of it, and I did.”
And Woodall did it in a big way. After starting 0 for 2 with a sacrifice, Woodall hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth, providing the final two runs in the Class A No. 10 Lancers’ sectional semifinal rout.
The host Lancers (19-5) will face Greenwood Christian (7-6) in today’s 5:30 p.m. championship game.
“It was my first home run ever in my entire life,” said Woodall, adding her mother made sure she got the souvenir softball.
Woodall said she hopes that means the slump is over.
In the pitching circle, the senior gave up four singles and no walks to the Yellow Jackets (6-16). The Lancers committed no errors.
“It’s easy to pitch like that when you have the defense behind you,” Woodall said. “I know my defense is going to have my back no matter what I do.”
After two scoreless innings, Edinburgh scored nine runs on eight hits and three errors in the third.
Maddi Clark opened with a double, followed by Sidney Beier’s run-scoring double. Vanessa McManaway delivered an RBI single. Following a single by Grace Joiner, Emma Wade delivered a run-scoring single. Taylor Littiken followed with a two-run double to make it 5-0. Brianna Howard contributed a RBI single and Clark a two-run single to make it 8-0. The final run of the inning scored on an error.
“It was really intense, and we put our minds to it and hit the ball,” said Littiken, who was 2 for 3. “We work on what we do every day in practice.”
Edinburgh threatened to score in the first two innings but left one runner on in the first and the bases loaded in the second.
“We did a good job getting baserunners, we were just mis-hitting the ball and popping up,” Lancers coach Stephen Clark said. “I challenged them all to make adjustments at the box. In the third inning, everyone who made that adjustment in the box had a line drive. I was happy with the adjustments and happy with the line drives.”
Clark added that Woodall pitched well, like she has all year.
“I hope we continue to get fine jobs out of both of them (Woodall and Maddi Clark),” he said. “It makes it easier on the defense when they’re not forced to get outs.”
Maddi Clark was 3 for 4 with two doubles.
