Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Ron Marvel

Star Correspondent

The Lady Rangers rallied with two out to push past a Highlanders team that had beaten them the three other times they had played this season. The win would put them in the championship game against North Greene and would guarantee them a berth in regions. The elimination game between Cloudland and Unaka was a thriller that will add another page to this Carter County rivalry.

Unaka jumped out early as Mollie Buckles shot a line drive to left to plate Katlyn Dugger, who had reached on an error, and Brooklyn Campbell, who reached on a single. Cloudland’s Reagen Turbyfill, who pitched all seven innings in this contest, settled down and got the next two outs to get out of the inning.

The Lady Highlanders answered in the bottom of the second as Reagen Blair knocked home a couple of runs to make it 2-all. The next at-bat saw Savannah McCoury hit a line drive over the left-field wall to make it 4-2 Highlanders.

The Lady Highlanders added another run off a Blair inside-the-park home run, but Unaka came up with an answer in the top of the fifth as two Cloudland errors and base hits from Dugger and Buckles cut the Highlanders’ advantage to 5-3. Kaci Bare hit a sac fly to cut the lead to one, and D. Harter singled on a hard grounder to tie the game at 5 apiece.

The game stayed tied through the fifth, although the Highlanders got runners on second and third in the bottom half as L. Blair and J. Harper got base hits. But Kimberly Proffitt recorded a swinging strike three and a groundout to end the threat.

Cloudland broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth as McCoury doubled on a deep fly ball to center and was knocked home by a triple off the bat of Turbyfill. Proffitt once again limited the damage by recording two strikeouts to end the inning.

Trailing by two runs, the Rangers got to work. Abriella Jones reached on a line-drive single. Once again, errors cost the Lady Highlanders as two miscues allowed Unaka to extend the inning and load the bases. Devalynn Harter picked up two RBIs on a fly ball that couldn’t be handled in center, plating Campbell and Dugger to give Unaka a 7-6 lead.

The Lady Highlanders got the tying run on base but couldn’t advance the runner. The Lady Rangers began to celebrate, knowing they had hung close all night and taken advantage of their opportunities. Meanwhile, the Lady Highlanders’ anguish was obvious as they knew their defensive lapses had cost them dearly. The Highlanders outhit the Lady Rangers 13 to 8 in the game.

Buckles finished with three RBIs, while Campbell went 2-for-3 with three runs scored for the Lady Rangers. For the Highlanders, McCoury went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Turbyfill collected two hits.

Region 1-A Championship – North Greene 14, Unaka 3
The Lady Huskies scored nine runs in the fifth to open up a 5-3 game as they claimed the championship.

Brooklyn Campbell hit two doubles, and Katlyn Dugger and Kaci Bare each collected two hits in the loss for the Rangers. The Lady Rangers will travel to Hancock County to face off against the Lady Indians on Monday.