Sequoyah comes from behind to blast rival Sweetwater

Allen Roberts was not rattled and neither was his squad.

After watching rival Sweetwater explode for seven runs in the bottom of the first, he looked at his team and said “We’ve got that out of our system.”

It did not take Sequoyah (1-0) long to rally, winning 18-9 over the Wildcats (1-3) on the road March 12.

“We told them at the end of the first inning (that we could win this game). We kind of came out and, defensively, laid an egg,” Roberts said.

Sequoyah had two outs on their hosts with only one run scored. Sweetwater then strung together four hits — including a triple — and an error as they cycled through the lineup.

“We told them we got that out of our system so we can just play. We felt like we could hit the ball well coming into the game, we have been hitting well in practice,” Roberts added.

After leadoff batter Kaleigh Atchley reached on an error, Sequoyah saw three quick outs — on a total of eight pitches — end the top of the first.

That shifted an inning later. Shae Ahlstrom reached on an error before Ray singled and TeAsya Cozart loaded the bases with no outs. Megan Ladd cut the deficit by over 50% in the next at-bat.

After fouling off two pitches, Ladd rocketed a grand slam out over left field to make it 7-4.

Lilly Griffitts led off the top of the third with a home run, pulling Sequoyah within two. Three batters later, Bella Hall’s grounder scored Ahlstrom.

Ladd — who finished the day with five RBIs — tied the contest at seven by bringing home Hall.

Alicia Kimble hit the third of four home runs to start the fourth inning, giving Sequoyah its first lead.

“Our hitters really came alive and we just kind of started taking command of the game,” Roberts said. Sequoyah hit the ball hard in the first inning, but could not straighten it out. After powering balls into the gaps things began to open up. The Lady Chiefs combined for 21 hits and 17 RBIs with two strikeouts.

“Once the offense got rolling things feed off of each other,” Roberts added. “Everything we hit was loud and deep. I was really happy with how the offense looked.”

Eight Lady Chiefs recorded hits on the day with seven of those being multi-hit outings. Griffitts led the charge with four.

“We had the momentum and then we had a couple defensive errors and put runners on that should not have been on. We just were not doing the simple things right,” Sweetwater coach Sarah Davies said. “You cannot do that against a team like Sequoyah or they are going to take advantage of it. That is what we have been stressing — doing the little things right. We just did not do that consistently.”

Sweetwater escaped a jam in the fourth inning. With two on and no outs, freshman Lilly Woodruff struck out Ahlstrom before Kylie Pliske and Danielle Jones turned a double play.

Things continued to shift one inning later though. Sequoyah had two on and two outs before adding five runs on four hits — the cornerstone being Grifftts’ second home run of the night.

“That was something I was really happy to see. Even down 7-0, I never got the sense … they just took a breath and said ‘Let’s come back and win this ball game,’” Roberts said. “They stayed up and we came right back out. The offense never tapped the breaks from that point on.”

Sequoyah found a calmness from an early pitching change. Atchley stepped on in relief, taking over with two outs in the bottom of the first.

She ended the night with six strikeouts, allowing two runs and eight hits.

“That is her. She is just tough-minded and she handles pressure really well. I wanted her to come in and find a rotation. She has been pitching well,” Roberts said. “They had some hits and we had some errors. That combination kind of got the wheels off the track. She came in and really settled us down.”

Woodruff pitched the full seven innings for Sweetwater, facing 44 batters and tossing 121 pitches.

“She knew coming in this would be a big shift from junior high school to high school. But the kid plays softball year round and has been able to handle her own,” Davies said. “Her eyes are opening and she is seeing these girls can hit.”

Woodruff struck out two batters, walked two and allowed 14 earned runs.

“I don’t think that it is so much that she is missing it, throwing it down the middle, but the hitting has stepped up in this game and we are going to have to produce offensively to keep up,” Davies added.

Sweetwater started the night with a single from Shanea Jewell before a sacrifice bunt moved her into scoring position. Two batters later, Maddy Baylog doubled into center field to score Jewell.

Woodruff scored on a wild pitch before Baylog touched home on an error. Pliske rocketed a triple into right field, scoring Tori Thompson and Kylee Richeson. Pliske and Kylie Baylog touched home in the next two at-bats for a seven-run lead.

“That first inning, we came out swinging away and that is something we struggled with last year. To come out against a team like Sequoyah and put up seven in one inning, shows they were ready,” Davies said. “We are getting production No. 1 through No. 9 like that.”

Sweetwater continued to battle after the opening innings. The Lady ’Cats added two runs and 12 hits from the second inning beyond.

“I was proud of them for that. We have some fight in us and you are going to see that. It is not coming in the wins right now, but we are seeing a lot of positives,” Davies added.