B

RUTLEDGE – Cherokee rallied with two runs in the sixth, added another one in the seventh and then held on in the end to defeat Grainger 3-2 at The Den Tuesday afternoon.

Kennedy Dishner had the two biggest plays of the game with each coming on a strange sequence of events. With her team trailing 1-0 in the sixth, she hit a shot off the foot of the Lady Grizzlies’ pitcher that allowed the ball to get past the infield and that allowed Brayley Bowlin to score to tie the game. Leah Lamb added an RBI with a single to center field to put the Lady Chiefs on top 2-1. In the next inning, Dishner hit a screamer to third that somehow got past for a hit and that brought Rachel Young home to extend the Cherokee lead to two runs. Grainger got close in the bottom of the seventh as Brookyln Copley singled to score Cierstin Phifer. The Lady Grizzlies eventually loaded the bases but couldn’t get the key hit they needed and fell to the Lady Chiefs 3-2.

“We have been talking all year about how we had to keep fighting and never give up on each other and we did that tonight,” Cherokee head coach Kevin Helton said. “We had a sophomore on the mound tonight (Nicole Bradley) and she threw the ball great. We bunted the ball we needed to, executed when we needed to and played the way we needed to. Proud of the girls.”

Grainger head coach Ben Williford said multiple errors hurt his teams’ chances of picking up a victory on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, errors have been getting us all year in district play. We just came back from the Gibbs Invitational where we played really well and played an error-free game against a good Union County team on Monday. We get back into district play today, have some uh-oh’s and couldn’t get over it. We have to make plays when they are hit to us. Credit to Cherokee, they hit the ball well tonight and hat’s off to their coaches and players.”

The Lady Grizzlies will next be in action on Thursday when they take on Claiborne.