Lady Cyclones pick up key conference win over East
Published 7:56 am Friday, April 7, 2023
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Lela Byrd prepares to fire a pitch to the plate in the seventh inning to a Sullivan East batter.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Elizabethton's Maely Ingram hustles down the line and ends up safe after an errant throw by an East infielder.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Lady Cyclone second baseman Emma O'Quinn prepares to throw to first for an out.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Elizabethton shortstop Ember Jensen swipes second base as the throw from the Lady Patriot catcher was off target.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Lady Cyclone right fielder Lana Ward has a bead on a fly ball.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Elizabethton third baseman Sadie Williams fires to first baseman Kenidy Harris to record an out.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
After recording an out, the Lady Cyclone infield meets at the pitcher's circle.
STAR CORRESPONDENT
Freshman Lela Byrd is proving to be a player that can do about anything needed to help her Elizabethton Lady Cyclone softball team win games.
Thursday was a prime example: Byrd batted 2-for-4 with a home run while pitching a complete game, two hitter against conference foe Sullivan East to lead Elizabethton past the Lady Patriots 10-3.
Byrd fanned 10 Lady Patriots and walked two.
Elizabethton collected 13 hits in the game as first baseman Kenidy Harris continued to swing a hot bat for Coach Ken Hardin’s Lady Cyclones as the senior finished the day 3-for-4.
Emma O’Quinn, Ember Jensen, and Molly Johnson also had a multiple-hit day as each collected two base hits. O’Quinn, Harris, and Johnson swatted a double apiece in the hit attack.
Senior Maely Ingram picked up a pair of RBIs with a hit while Sadie Williams got into the hit column with a base knock.
Elizabethton swiped five bases on the day as Williams had two with Jensen, Ingram, and Cheyenne Poiroux stealing one bag each.
The Lady Patriots led 3-1 going into the bottom of the third inning before Elizabethton tacked on three runs of their own to take a 4-3 lead and never looked back.
Keelye Fields three-run homer gave East the brief lead in the top of the third before Byrd connected to center field in the bottom of the frame to put the Lady Cyclones firmly in the lead. Elizabethton scored four more in the bottom of the fourth inning to put the game on ice.
Evie Leonard had the only other hit in the game for Sullivan East. Katie Botts took the loss for Sullivan East. Botts allowed 10 hits and eight runs over four innings, striking out one.
