Taking advantage of timely hits and West Jessamine errors, Franklin County’s softball team rolled to a 17-7, six-inning victory Tuesday at Sally Gaines Field.
“We were trying to make them play defense,” FCHS coach Tracy Spickard said. “I thought we hit the ball well. We were slow hitting the ball early, but we kept it up and hit the ball harder as the game went on.
“We wanted to force them to play defense and in essence force them to make mistakes.”
The Lady Flyers (2-1) scored a run in the first inning as Kiana Butler and Sydney Wiard reached on errors, and Brianna Banks brought a run home with a fly ball to center field.
West Jessamine (5-4) was playing catch-up the rest of the way.
The Lady Colts tied the game in the top of the second, but FCHS took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning with four more runs.
Ashley Hack, Alyssa Gaines, Shelby Sanders, Butler and Banks all singled, Tori Zeigler reached on an error, and Macy Johnson drove in a run with a grounder to first.
In the third inning Hack tripled, Zeigler drew a walk, and Sanders hit a home run to score three runs and give the Lady Flyers an 8-3 lead.
With six runs in the fourth inning Franklin County went ahead 14-3 and had a chance to end the game on the mercy rule in the fifth, but West Jessamine came up with three runs in the fifth to keep the game going.
FCHS took its 14-3 lead in the fourth with a triple from Kara Howard, singles by Hack, Zeigler and Johnson and an error.
The Lady Flyers added a run in the fifth with a walk, an error and a grounder by Hack, and they closed out the scoring in the sixth with two errors, a fielder’s choice from Johnson and a triple from Sanders.
The game was called on the mercy rule in the sixth inning.
“Our defense was a little better tonight,” Spickard said. “We only had one error, and we’ve had several in our first two games.
“We played better defense, but we still have a ways to go with our base running,” she added. “We’re getting these kids some experience. They’re so young we’re going to take a few lumps early, but we’ll learn through that and work to improve.”
Howard pitched a complete game for the victory. Sanders finished with a home run, triple and single for FCHS, and Hack hit two singles and a triple. Butler singled twice, Howard hit a triple, and Banks, Gaines, Zeigler and Johnson each had a base hit.
“We have so many kids out there with no varsity experience,” Spickard said. “Right now we’re experimenting, moving people around to different positions to find the right mix.
“Their attitudes are good,” she added about her team. “We’re just a work in progress, and we just have to get some experience.”
The Lady Flyers are playing in the Macon County tournament in Cookeville, Tenn., this weekend where they are guaranteed four games. They will have two pool play games Friday and one Saturday morning before moving to the single-elimination portion of the tournament.
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