Allen Roberts wanted to see the Sequoyah offense make steps forward in the postseason.
Navigating the District 5-3A tournament will take powerful bats and strong, consistent defense.
When the first pitch to Alicia Kimble was tossed to start the bottom of the first on Sunday, he must have been happy.
Kimble wrapped her barrel around the ball, sending a missile past center field for her 12th home run of the season, jumpstarting Sequoyah (12-8) to an 8-3 win over South-Doyle in the District 3-2A quarterfinals.
“We kind of set the tone right there by jumping on them the way we did. I felt like that, right off the bat, took the wind out of their pitcher’s sails a bit,” Roberts said.
The solo shot on the first pitch of the at-bat jump started Sequoyah to a five-spot in the first inning. Kimble finished the night with two home runs and four RBIs while Sequoyah totaled eight runs off eight hits.
Bella Hall and Tynleigh Ray laid down doubles while Lilly Griffitts, Hall and Ray all had two hits each.
“That kind of set the tone and I think it rattled her out of the gate. Next thing you know we put up five runs. We are going to need that. We are going to need our offense to be like that the whole time,” Roberts said.
Griffits doubled the lead with one out, singling to score Shae Ahlstrom. Sequoyah found another run through Ray’s RBI double in the next at-bat.
BriAysa Bowman reach on an error, scoring Ray, before Hall’s two-out double drove in Megan Ladd.
A leadoff walk in the third inning kept things going.
Kimble’s second home run of the night was a three-run shot to left field, scoring Bowman and Hall.
After the shot that moved Sequoyah ahead 8-2, the Lady Chiefs were held hitless through three innings.
It was a defensive gem that kept the lead intact for the night. Roberts noted one mistake — one that saw South-Doyle score two runs in the third inning with two outs — but otherwise he was happy with the performance.
“We are going to need to do that the whole tournament. We are going to have to hit and play solid defense. We have done that tonight, so that is what we are going to need to do,” Roberts said.
Hall got the start for the Lady Chiefs — tossing the full seven innings with four strikeouts and no earned runs.
The junior tossed 46.2 innings in the regular season, accounting for 24 total strikeouts and a 5.10 ERA.
“I thought they did a good job. She hit her spots pretty good and was consistent. We had one inning where they scored two runs, but that was because of an error on us,” Roberts said. “Overall, she did a good job.”
Consistent behind the plate as well as at it, Kimble’s relationship with all the pitchers at Sequoyah continues to contribute to the team.
“She handles our pitchers real well. I think it is real comforting for our pitchers to have her behind the plate,” Roberts added. “Any time as a pitcher when you have a solid catcher it adds to your confidence. I think it’s big for all of our pitchers to have her behind the plate.”
Across the tournament, No. 1 Heritage beat No. 5 Lenoir City 16-0 in five innings.
Lenoir City and South-Doyle meet on Monday in an elimination game. Heritage hosts Sequoyah with the winner clinching a spot in the District 5-3A championship and the Region 3-3A tournament.
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