SPARTA -- When Cookeville softball coach Jeff Williams and the Lady Cavaliers began play in the District 6-AAA Tournament, he told his team the tournament was anybody's to win. He was right. Despite being the No. 4 seed, the Lady Cavs kept their season alive Tuesday night by winning their second-straight elimination game, this time eliminating No. 2 seed Warren County with a 6-1 win at White County High School. With the win, Cookeville (21-17) has qualified for its first region tournament appearance since 1999. "We're so excited," senior pitcher Alex Hull said. "We said at the beginning of the year, 'We're seniors, and we do not want to leave here without going to the regions.' So we're going and we're so excited." Lady Cavs coach Jeff Williams -- who advanced to the region in 2006 and 2007 while coaching at York Institute -- said believing they could advance as a No. 4 seed made a big difference. "We told them when the tournament began, 'It's anybody's game. You can be last and make it to the region, and you can be first and get knocked out,'" Williams recalled. "They were able to fight through, and they did a great job." Hull said the seeding may have actually played to Cookeville's advantage. "If you come in and you're undefeated, everybody wants to beat you," she explained. "We came in as the underdogs, and we took care of business. This is exactly where we wanted to be." The Lady Cavs will play top-seeded Coffee County tonight at 5 p.m. Should they win, it would force an if-necessary game at 7 p.m. Hull shut down the Lady Pioneer lineup in the loser's bracket final, giving up just four hits, a walk and one unearned run while striking out three. "Alex did do a good job. Lately she's been doing better," Williams said. "She kind of struggled early and in the middle part of the year, but she's settled down now and she's doing a good job with pitching and not throwing." Cookeville backed her up with three runs in the top of the first. Jenny Hallums drew a one-out walk, then Morgan Harris crushed her second home run in as many days to make it 2-0. Megan Winningham followed with a single, Betty Lopez reached on an error, and with two outs Sydney Price singled in Winningham. But the defense threatened to make it a close game. Three errors allowed the Lady Pioneers to score a run without getting a hit, as Lindsey Rowland scored on a two-out error that allowed Taylor Grissom to reach. After a few quiet innings, Harris got the Lady Cavs started again in the top of the fifth inning, leading off with a double to deep left. Winningham followed with another double to left, scoring courtesy runner Abbi Reeder. Cookeville tacked on two insurance runs in the sixth. Heather "Fred" Smith reached on an error to start the inning, Jenna Roberts legged out an infield single, and Courtney Hutcherson singled to load the bases. Hallums then hit a sacrifice fly to score Smith's pinch runner, Abby Collins. Following a walk to Harris, Winningham drew a bases-loaded free pass to plate Roberts for the final margin. Hull said the region appearance didn't seem real until the final out. "We didn't want to let down for a second," she said. Harris batted 3-for-3 with two RBIs, and Winningham finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Gabi Keith took the loss for WCHS, pitching 5 1/3 innings and giving up six runs on nine hits and four walks. She struck out three. Monica Lane threw the final 1 2/3 innings, fanning two and giving up no runs and no hits. Despite losing 8-1 to Coffee County earlier in the tournament, the Lady Cavs have a strong belief they can knock off the Lady Raiders. In Saturday's game, they led 1-0 going into the bottom of the fifth before Coffee County pounced for six runs while being aided by several errors. "I think we can beat them," Hull said, "if we all play hard and stick together as a team like we did (Tuesday)." Read more: Herald Citizen - CHS SOFTBALL Lady Cavaliers make first region appearance since 99 <http://www.herald-citizen.com/view/full_story/13216324/article-CHS-SOFTBALL--Lady-Cavaliers-make-first-region-appearance-since--99?instance=main_article#ixzz1M9u0Z8G2>
SPARTA -- Faced with an almost identical situation as it had last year, the Cookeville softball team didn't want to feel the same way it did a year ago.
In 2010, the Lady Cavaliers were knocked out of the District 6-AAA Tournament loser's bracket by archrival White County in a 1-0 nail-biter. This year, they made sure there wouldn't be the same feelings of sadness.
Morgan Harris drove in four runs, seniors Courtney Hutcherson and Jenny Hallums scored two runs each, Betty Lopez batted 3-for-4, and senior Alex Hull also collected two hits to help the Lady Cavs blast the Warriorettes 7-2 on Monday evening at WCHS.
"I think we were more determined this game," said Hutcherson, who batted 1-for-3, walked and stole two bases. "We all stayed up saying, 'This is our game, this is our time to shine.' We knew they had beat us once or twice, but we've still gotta fight. And I believe Cookeville fought tonight. We were determined to win this game."
The win puts the Lady Cavs (20-17) a win away from qualifying for the Region 3-AAA Tournament, something Hutcherson wants to be able to experience. They'll play Warren County today at 5:30 p.m. in the loser's bracket championship, with the winner advancing and the loser going home.
"I've never made it to regionals ever, and I know these girls are wanting to go," she said. "That's our goal is to make it to regionals, and once we make it to regionals, our goal is to make it to state. We're just gonna keep having our big dreams."
CHS coach Jeff Williams is trying to keep his team focused on the Lady Pioneers, who split the regular-season series with the Lady Cavs and lost 5-1 to Coffee County on Monday in the semifinals.
"I've talked to them and told them, and every coach says this, that you cannot look ahead to somebody else," Williams said. "You've gotta take it one step at a time, and we just need to complete the journey right here.
" After having trouble much of the year getting key two-out hits, the Lady Cavaliers (20-17) executed well for the second game in the district tournament. Following a 3-1 win over Cumberland County in the first round, Cookeville scored six of its seven runs with two outs in eliminating the Warriorettes.
"I hate to say that and it jinx us, but against Cumberland County and here, we were able to get a couple two-out hits and get some runs in," Williams said.
Williams didn't speak for his players, but said last year's ending was definitely on his mind, as well as 6-5 and 3-2 losses to WCHS during this year's regular season.
"They had beaten us twice this year, and they put us out last year," Williams said. "It's always good when you can send your rival home. ... I think they were more focused tonight, and it showed."
Harris gave CHS an early 1-0 lead with a two-out RBI triple off the wall in right that scored Hutcherson. But WCHS quickly answered in the bottom of the frame, as Raven Pope's two-out single scored Kristen Abell to knot the score at 1-1.
From the third inning on, Cookeville roared ahead with six straight runs to take control.
In the third, Hutcherson singled, and Hallums blooped a double to right to drive in Hutcherson. Megan Winningham singled Hallums to third, then moved to second on a catcher's indifference play. Harris' sacrifice fly to left scored Winningham and moved Hallums to third, and Lopez' two-out single plated Winningham for a 4-1 lead.
Hallums -- returning to the lineup after missing two games because of an injury -- hit her second double with one out in the fifth. With two down, Harris mashed a two-run homer to deep center. Lopez, Jenna Roberts and Hull followed with consecutive singles to score Lopez' pinch runner, Ashley Bean and make it 7-1.
White County got just three baserunners from the third through sixth innings, then made a late comeback attempt. In the bottom of the seventh, Lacey Clark singled and later scored on an Abell double, but Winningham got a strikeout to end the game.
Hallums and Hull each batted 2-for-4, while Harris was 2-for-2 with a run. Winningham picked up the win in the circle, pitching five innings and striking out seven while surrendering one run. Hull tossed the first two innings and gave up one run.
Abell took the loss, fanning six in seven innings while walking one and giving up 12 hits. She and Pope collected two hits each, while Clark walked and had the Warriorettes' only other hit.
Read more: Herald Citizen - CHS SOFTBALL Lady Cavs a win away from region appearance
