Lady Cats Walk Off Franklin County

The Tullahoma Lady Cats rallied for two runs in the seventh inning to beat the Franklin County Rebelettes 3-2 Tuesday at Lady Cats Field. The win advanced Tullahoma in the District 8-3A Softball Tournament.

Tullahoma (19-10), the third seed in the tournament, will travel to top-seed Giles County (25-8) tonight for a 5:30 p.m. elimination game. Listen live on 93.9 The Duck, 939theduck.com, or the free Duck app on Android and iOS.

The Lady Cats jumped ahead 1-0 in the first inning after loading the bases with no outs, but stranded three runners. That became a theme throughout the contest.

Franklin County tied the game in the third, with Molly Casey connecting on a leadoff home run against Tullahoma pitcher Amaya Sharp (17-6). Sharp scattered five hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

The Rebelettes increased their lead to 2-1 in the fifth, as Casey scored after leading off the inning with a base on balls.

Kaitlynn Gattis led off the sixth with a single for Tullahoma. After another single by Ellie Simpson, a sacrifice bunt by Maggie Lynch, and another single by Sharp, the bases were loaded again, but the Lady Cats couldn’t push a run across.

After Franklin County stranded a runner in the top of the seventh, the Lady Cats went to work. Maddie Goad led off with a single and stole second. Avanley Metcalf sacrificed Goad to third, and Aleigha Raby singled home Goad to tie the score.

But Tullahoma wasn’t finished. Gattis reached on an error, and Raby advanced to third. Junior second baseman Ellie Simpson slammed a hard single to right field, driving in the winning run and touching off a massive celebration as Raby crossed the plate. Simpson was named the Owens Provisions and Apparel Player of the Game.