Richards grand slam, Romeka's complete-game shutout guide C-N in sweep of Shorter
It was a tale of two games for Carson-Newman in its Wednesday evening sweep of Shorter.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final (8) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 16 | 0 |
|
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 21 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 1 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
VIDEO: Michael Graves Interview
ROME, Ga. – It was a tale of two games for Carson-Newman in its Wednesday evening sweep of Shorter. In both games, it scored 13 runs; however, in game one, it needed extra innings to outlast the late magic from the Hawks, 13-12.
Between the two games, head coach Michael Graves pulled his team from the dugout and voiced his displeasure with the first contest.
"Let's summarize it as, 'that's not how Carson-Newman plays softball,' and that's not how we're going to play going forward," Graves said. "Hopefully, it hit home because it looked like it helped in game two. They're good ball players. I don't know what it took us this long to get to this point."
The message certainly resonated with the team as the Eagles came out refocused and blitzed the Hawks early. They scored11 runs in the second innings, paving the way for a complete-game shutout from Emma Romeka (San Diego, Calif.).
Carson-Newman 13, Shorter 12 (8 innings)
In the first inning, the Eagles put early pressure on former C-N player, Rylee Gattis, with back-to-back walks to Abbi Martin (Gadsden, Ala.) and Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.). They moved into scoring position on a wild pitch but were unable to score.
The Hawks then broke through in the bottom of the first as Alex Hollingsworth drove in Anna Sanders, 1-0. The two sides traded blows over the next few innings. Katie
C-N quickly responded in the second as Addie Saunders (Radford, Va.) led off with a triple down the right field line. As Reese Winchester (San Diego, Calif.) worked a walk, a failed back pick third that went into left field allowed Saunders to score. Martin then came through with a single that pushed Winchester across. The very next batter, Bailey, plated Malyiah Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Martin, 4-1.
Williams launched Shorter's first home run of the season to cut the lead in half in the home half of the second.
In the third, Shelby Armstrong (Knoxville, Tenn.) drilled a drive to left center that hit the top of the wall, a foot from leaving the yard, pushing in Saunders and Grace Gregory (White House, Tenn.), 6-2.
A Madi Curtis RBI single kept Shorter within arm's reach in the bottom of the third, 6-3.
In the fourth, Eagles fans saw a familiar sight as Macauley Bailed launched her first home run of the season to left center, pushing the lead back up to four, 7-3.
A sacrifice fly from Anna Sanders in the fifth brought the lead back down to three, 7-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs, Shorter came back to life, scoring three runs to force extra innings. Alex Hollingsworth doubled to left field, scoring Ashton Stevens. Then, Gattis drilled a double to left center, driving in two more, 7-7.
So, for the first time this season, C-N went to extra innings and scored six runs in the top of the eighth.
With the bases loaded, the Eagles took the lead on a base hit from Bailey, pushing Winchester in, her fourth RBI of the contest. Followed by a Sarah Walker (Mill Spring, N.C.) seeing-eye single through the left side, brought Smith in. Setting the stage for the grand slam from Anne Marie Richards (Spring Hill, Tenn.), her first career home run, 13-7.
Once again, with two outs, there was still some magic left in the Shorter bats. Zariah Webb drove Lizzy Mitchell in on a single. A few batters later, a single from Sanders pushed Webb and Curtis across.
Carson-Newman 13, Shorter 0 (5 innings)
Game two started very differently from the first, it was the Eagles who struck first and never looked back. Malyiah Smith reached on an error, moved into scoring position on a stolen base, before Abbi Martin drove her in on a double. Martin later scored on an RBI base hit from game one's hero, Anne Marie Richards, 2-0.
After a 1-2-3 bottom of the first from Emma Romeka, C-N broke the game wide open with an 11-run second.
The avalanche of scoring started with a Smith bunt that scored Reese Winchester. A couple of batters later, Macauley Bailey drove in Smith and Shelby Armstrong to stretch the lead. The next at-bat began a stretch of three-straight RBIs; Richards had a déjà vu moment as her single scored Martin, followed by a Grace Gregory base hit to plate Bailey and then an Addie Saunders sacrifice fly drove in Richards, 8-0.
As the Eagles batted around, Smith came up and found a gap up the middle for a two-run single, scoring Gregory and Winchester. Martin kept the train moving with a base hit, bringing Shelby Armstrong home. Bailey drove in the final two runs of the inning on a single through the middle to score Smith and Martin, 13-0.
That is all the offense that C-N got and needed, as Romeka stifled the Hawks' hitters on her way to a complete-game shutout. Syerra Rogers was the last C-N pitcher to have a complete-game shutout in a run-rule game, she did so on February 24th last season against none other than Shorter.
On tap for Carson-Newman is its home opener against King on Saturday, with the first pitch set for 1:00 p.m. from the Vickee Kasee-Hollifield Softball Complex. The Eagles will stay in Jefferson City for a twinbill against Barton starting at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday. Both games can be heard on cneagles.com/live or seen on cneagles.com/FloSB, fans can watch on In The Booth on YouTube to see how the crew operates.
