PHOTO GALLERY: Lady Panthers survive and advance

CHURCH HILL — The Church Hill Lady Panthers kept their season alive with a 10-9 win over Indian Trail on Wednesday, May 1, in the losers’ bracket of the Area 1-AA softball tournament.

They’ll continue to fight for survival with an elimination game on Thursday, May 2, at 5:30 p.m. at Metro-Kiwanis Park in Johnson City. A second elimination game would follow at 7:30 p.m. as they try to work their way back into contention. Liberty Ball sent Church Hill into the losers’ bracket with a 7-6 second-round win on Tuesday, April 30.

On Monday, April 29, the Lady Panthers (9-8) picked up a 6-1 win over the Greeneville in the opening round of the tournament.

The Lady Panthers started out strong in the field with two pop outs to shortstop Emersyn Templeton and a ground out to first baseman Marlee Clark. In the bottom of the first, the Lady Panthers got an RBI-single from Madison Holder and took advantage of four walks (including three straight) and a passed ball to take the 2-0 lead.

In the second inning, CHMS starter Emily Walker struck out the leadoff hitter but walked a batter. Danni Guinn caught a pop fly and doubled off the runner at first to erase the baserunner. In the bottom of the inning, Templeton walked and stole her way around the base paths to make the score 3-0.

Walker had two strikeouts and a ground out to first for a 1-2-3 inning in the third, but CHMS left one runner stranded in the home half.

The Panthers swapped pitchers in the top of the fourth. With one runner on, Holder got three straight strikeouts to bring the Lady Panthers in to bat. A leadoff single by Guinn and a double by Templeton. Walker hit a fly ball that allowed Guinn to score, and Templeton stole home to make it 5-0.

Holder held the Lady Devils at bay in the fifth with a two strikeouts and a ground ball she fielded and threw to first. Greeneville got its first out on a CHMS miscue, with a player not on the lineup going to bat. But the Lady Devils walked four batters in the inning to bring another run in for the Lady Panthers to make it 6-0.

Walker returned to the circle for CHMS in the sixth, and Greeneville answered with two doubles to put its first run on the board. The Lady Panthers went down in order in the bottom of the sixth.

Three outs from a first-round tournament victory, Holder returned to pitch and caught a line drive for the first out. After a walk, she struck out the final two batters to end the game and send the Lady Panthers into the second round.

After the game, head coach Kirby Walker said the key takeaway from the game was that there were “no mistakes.” Moving forward in the tournament, he said “they will need to hit the ball a little better.”

Walker said the team’s consistent effort and never giving up has contributed to their success this year.

“They don’t give up. They fight when they’re down. Sometimes they slow down a little bit when they’re on top, but a lot of fighting. I just love being out here with this group of girls. … We’ve got a good group of girls that are going to be here for a while, a tough bunch.”