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Taylor strikes out 18 in SM softball victory
Megan Taylor struck out 18 batters last Thursday leading Smoky Mountain to a 4-2 Western Athletic Conference softball victory at East Henderson.
She pitched a three-hitter with only three of the 21 outs not on strikeouts. Taylor walked two, and both Lady Eagle runs were unearned.
“She’s been pitching well all year long,” Coach Tony Quinn said. “It’s really no surprise for her to do something like that. It was her strongest performance of the year.”
The Lady Mustangs (5-5, 2-0) took a 2-0 lead in the third. Jodi Henkel singled and scored on Cassie Randall’s triple. Miriam Brown followed with an RBI single.
They made it 3-0 in the fifth. Singles by Henkel and Stormy DeLucia along with a walk to Brown loaded the bases. The run scored on an error.
East cut the gap to 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth on a walk and two errors. The tying run was on second with one out, but Taylor recorded two strikeouts to maintain the lead.
SM picked up an insurance run in the seventh on singles by Brown and Taylor and an error.
Brown, Taylor and Henkel all had two hits.
“It was a good way to win,” Quinn said. “We got an early lead and held it all the way through even though they came back a little bit.”
The Lady Mustang JVs fell to 1-4 with an 11-0 loss at home. They were hurt by seven errors, and the game was called after five innings due to the 10-run rule.
“It was a tough home loss,” Coach Shawn Blanton said.
He cited Kristen Parris for her defense at shortstop.
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