After a couple of trips through the lineup, Tellico Plains got the timing down.
The Lady Bears totaled three hits through the first two rotations before exploding in the later innings of a 7-3 District 3-2A win at McMinn Central on Thursday.
Taylor Rose led the Lady Bears (9-5; 4-3) with three hits while five different batters notched five RBIs in the win.
While the offense’s steadiness decided the night, Kadence Moses and the Tellico defense continued to shine and placed the program in the spot to deliver.
Moses struck out eight Lady Chargers while Tellico held the opposition to five hits on the night and six scoreless frames.
“I think (Kadence) is one of the top two (in the district). I think her, (Meigs County’s) Lainey (Fitzgerald) and the girl from Kingston are the top two,” Tellico Plains coach Don Swanson said.
Moses took a scare in the middle of the night. A line drive off the shin knocked the ace down, but Moses finished the game, striking out three batters after the incident.
Moses struck out two batters in both the bottom of the third and fourth, building shorter innings for the McMinn Central offense.
The Lady Chargers put a runner on through an error to start the bottom of the second, but Bella Wright covered a popout and turned the double play at first.
Rose’s two singles were the lone Lady Bear hits through the first three innings before runs came across the plate an inning later.
Moses reached second base through an error before Jagger Ziglar’s single pushed her to third.
Dana Harmon laid down a bunt that scored the opening two runs. Meredith Linder delivered a sacrifice bunt in the next at-bat to score Harmon.
“I think we got our timing down a little bit. We saw some fast pitching against Meigs. (Central’s Lauren Peterson) is a good pitcher, but she is not as fast as Meigs,” Swanson said.
The push continued an inning later when Rose started the frame with a double.
“(Rose) came through like a champ last night,” Swanson said. “She has filled in when we needed. Now that she is hot again at leadoff it is a big difference.”
Kalli Yates-Matoy brought Rose home with an RBI single two batters later. Meya Keener scored courtesy runner Briley Joines one batter later with an RBI double.
Tellico went ahead 6-0 with Moses’ RBI single to score courtesy runner Abbi Wear.
Moses’ sacrifice bunt brought Joines home in the seventh inning, pushing Tellico ahead 7-0.
Tellico’s core comes from a junior class, but the Lady Bears have found the extra push this season from new faces in the program.
“I think they have really matured, that is the biggest thing. You might be a freshman at the beginning of the season but, halfway through, you are a sophomore,” Swanson said. “I feel like we can beat Kingston. We should have beat Meigs. We had them, but we let them slip away.”
McMinn Central created a rally in the bottom of the seventh. The Lady Chargers started the inning by reaching through an error before two singles pushed their first run across the plate.
McMinn Central found two runs in the next at-bat off errors following a groundout that left the bases empty.
“We faced their best hitters at the end and they got a couple of bloops and a couple of solids. I can live with that,” Swanson said. “We made one wrong throw. It was in her head to hit the cut and she did, so I cannot fault her.”
Tellico’s win moves them ahead of Central in the district standings by a full game and nearly locks the program in as third-place finishers, though much of the standings are open to shifting.
“Just playing a lot, I think is going to help us. We play four times this next week,” Swanson said. “The more you play here at the end, the better it is.”
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