Gill: ‘This team doesn’t quit’
Hard times on the softball diamond continued for Oak Ridge High School last week.
On Saturday, the Lady Wildcats dropped a pair of heartbreakers in Ooltewah.
Oak Ridge opened the day with an 11-6 extra-inning loss to Knoxville West. The Lady Wildcats also came up on the short end of a 14-13 decision to the host Lady Owls.
In the first game, ORHS and the Lady Rebels were tied 6-6 in the eighth inning.
The two evenly matched squads each led at points in the game.
But West scored five times in the top of the extra frame as Brooklyn Burnett hit a grand slam after the Lady Rebels took the lead with a run on a dropped third strike.
Oak Ridge Coach Jeremy Gill knew that Burnett was a dangerous hitter in the West High lineup, but with the bases loaded, the Lady Wildcats couldn’t issue an intentional walk.
“If I had a place to put her, an open base, I would’ve walked her, but with the bases loaded, we had to pitch to her,” he said. “I told everybody to be careful, and she went up there and she hit one over the fence.”
Morgan Perry had three hits and drove in a pair of runs against the Lady Rebels, while Eden Hatmaker had two hits and scored two runs.
Brenna Bradshaw came up with a hit, a run and an RBI.
The Lady Wildcats also had a lead against the Lady Owls, only to see victory slip through their grasp.
Kaylee Hickman was Oak Ridge’s leading hitter against Ooltewah as she went 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs.
Bradshaw was 2-for-3 with a double, three runs and two stolen bases.
Makenzie Miller had two hits, an RBI and a run.
Gill said that his team doesn’t quit.
“They play hard, but they’ve just got to learn how to win,” he said. “They’ve got to get to the point where they expect to win and not expect to lose.”
Oak Ridge fell to Karns 11-2 on Tuesday, March 9, after losing to Anderson County, 12-1, the previous day.