Elite Eight Set at Eastman Softball Invitational (2024)

by Steve Wilmoth
TriCitiesSports.com
April 2, 2011

KINGSPORT -- Unicoi County survived prom night, Volunteer earned a second straight Sunday appearance and Seymour advanced to the quarterfinals via a forfeit. Those were some of the stories resonating from the 15th Annual Eastman Softball Invitational on Saturday.

Eastman Softball Invitational Day Two Photos
The day started with all 40 teams completing pool play in order to draw up the championship bracket. When the dust settled late Saturday afternoon, the Seymour Lady Eagles emerged as the top seed in the championship bracket with their perfect march through pool play without allowing a single run. Union County was also 4-0 with one run allowed for the second seed while defending champ Unicoi County was third. Grainger gained the fourth seed while Marion County was fifth and host Dobyns-Bennett sixth.

Holston, Virginia was also a perfect 4-0 in pool play but due to the VHSL rule that prohibits Virginia teams from playing on Sunday, Holston isn’t in the championship bracket. Richlands and Honaker also forfeit a spot in the 16-team championship draw leaving spots for Johnson County, Oak Ridge and Mercer County, Kentucky.

So surprised was Mercer County that after their 1-3 finish in pool play, the Lady Titans left town headed back for the Bluegrass State before the announcement of the championship bracket sending the top-seeded Lady Eagles of Seymour on to Sunday action.

Local teams just missing the final 16 were Science Hill who won two games on Friday, but dropped an 8-0 decision to Cookeville and suffered an 8-5 loss to Marion County. Tennessee High finished in a three-way tie with co*cke County and Lawrence County, Kentucky with 2-2 pool play marks, but the tie-breaker went to the Lady Red.

co*cke County was tasked to challenge one of the tournament favorites in Unicoi County, but got a bit of a break when a number of Lady Blue Devil standouts departed the tournament late Saturday morning to prep for the school’s prom Saturday night. That left head coach Grady Lingerfelt with just nine players – all freshman and sophom*ores – to continue the quest for a three-peat.

co*cke County challenged early and was tied 1-1 after a home run off Kacy Silvers, who took the circle for senior Kara Woods. However, the Lady Blue Devils eventually built a 7-1 advantage on their way to a 7-4 victory and a 10:00 a.m. quarterfinal game against Morristown East.

The Lady Hurricanes dispatched of host Dobyns-Bennett, 6-2, late Saturday night and are hoping to improve upon their third-place finish from a year ago.

The Lady Indians and head coach Andy Hubbard didn’t leave the event disappointed, however.

“We’re a lot better team that we were last week,” said Hubbard. “I think that maybe we are coming around. I think that we’re finally started to get it.”

Samantha Lilley won four games and Stephanie Ashe got four innings of work behind the plate, her first since coming off ACL surgery.

Hubbard also pointed to the offensive production on the weekend from Hannah Carley,

“I think we came around and finally started hitting the ball. I know we lost, but I’m a whole lot happier than I have been. We’re a lot more mentally and emotionally into the game.”

Hubbard also praised his assistant coach, Brian Tate, for putting together another deep field for the event.

“I think the tournament was strong,” said Hubbard. “The tournament has helped us and Volunteer more than it helped anybody.”

The Lady Falcons are part of the final day of action for the second straight year. Volunteer won its first three pool games, but was smashed 17-0 by Seymour just before the championship bracket was finalized.

The Lady Falcons’ defense had allowed Marion County to take a 3-1 lead, but the defense came up big after Ashley Lindholm’s double plated the tying and go-ahead run in the fourth inning.

Lauren Smith got the win for Volunteer by keeping her composure in the face of some wicked shots off the Marion County bats in the first inning.

“Lauren Smith pitched a heckuva a game,” said Volunteer head coach Jackie Strickler. “She probably pitched the best game of her career.”

Freshman Alex Williams started the Volunteer comeback with a solo homer in the second inning. It was Williams’ base-running two frames later that set the stage for Lindholm.

“She [Williams] doesn’t hesitate and goes from first to third,” noted Strickler “That’s what we teach – to keep your head down and go if you can. It’s amazing to me that she could do that as a freshman.”

Lindholm’s hit proved to be the game-winner while her defense was spectacular the final two frames.

“I knew I had to lay it on the line and do it for my team,” said Lindholm.

Volunteer moves on to play Grainger. The Lady Grizzlies had to score four runs in the bottom of the last inning off two Johnson County throwing errors to salvage a 4-3 victory over the Lady Longhorns. The final quarterfinal games pits Union County against Knox Central.

Below is the results of Saturday’s pool play action, records of each team in pool play and their runs allowed and Sunday’s schedule.

POOL PLAY RESULTS & STANDINGS

Pool 1

Standings
x-Grainger 4-0 [5]
x-Kingston 3-1 [10]
Coeburn 2-2
Sullivan East 1-3
David Crockett 0-4

Pool 2
Sullivan Central 4, Perry Central 3
Holston, VA 7, Johnson County 0
South-Doyle 12, Perry Central 1
South-Doyle 5, Johnson County 4
Holston, VA 8, Sullivan Central 1

Standings
y-Holston, VA 4-0 [2]
x-South-Doyle 3-1 [12]
x-Johnson County 2-2 [12]
Sullivan Central 1-3
Perry Central 0-4

Pool 3
Lawrence County, KY 4, Tennessee High 0
Union County 8, Lawrence County, KY 1
Tennessee High 2, co*cke County 1
Union County 15, J.I. Burton 0
co*cke County 5, J.I. Burton 4

Standings
x-Union County 4-0 [1]
x-co*cke County 2-2 [15]
Lawrence County, KY 2-2 [17]
Tennessee High 2-2 [26]
J.I. Burton 0-4

Pool 4
Northwood 6, Cloudland 2
Marion County 12, Northwood 1
Cookeville 8, Science Hill 0
Cookeville 19, Cloudland 0
Marion County 8, Science Hill 5

Standings
x-Marion County 4-0 [8]
x-Cookeville 3-1 [13]
Science Hill 2-2
Northwood 1-3
Cloudland 0-4

Pool 5
Gate City 7, Happy Valley 6
Gate City 4, Haysi 2
Volunteer 10, Haysi 4
Seymour 10, Happy Valley 0
Seymour 17, Volunteer 0

Standings
x-Seymour 4-0 [0]
x-Volunteer 3-1 [27]
Gate City 2-2
Haysi 1-3
Happy Valley 0-4

Pool 6
Station Camp 8, Sullivan South 4
Knox Central 10, Powell Valley 1
Knox Central 6, Morristown East 3
Morristown East 14, Sullivan South 3
Powell Valley 6, Station Camp 3

Standings
x-Knox Central 4-0 [7]
x-Morristown East 3-1 [15]
Powell Valley 2-2
Station Camp 1-3
Sullivan South 0-4

Pool 7
Unicoi County 5, Mercer County, KY 1
Honaker 5, Mercer County, KY 4
Greeneville 6, Bearden 3
Mercer County, KY 11, Greeneville 2
Honaker 5, Bearden 4

Standings
x- Unicoi County 4-0 [3]
y- Honaker 3-1 [17]
x –Mercer County, KY 1-3 [19]
Bearden 1-3 [31]
Greeneville 1-3 [34]

Pool 8
Dobyns-Bennett 3, Richlands 0
Dobyns-Bennett 11, Robert L. Patton 4
Oak Ridge 5, Sullivan North 0
Richlands 14, Sullivan North 0
Robert L. Patton 11, Oak Ridge 5

Standings
x-Dobyns-Bennett 4-0 [10]
y-Richlands 2-2 [16]
x-Oak Ridge 2-2 [20]
Robert Patton 2-2 [24]
Sullivan North 0-4

Top 16 Championship Bracket Seeds
1. Seymour 4-0 [0]
2. Union County 4-0 [1]
3. Unicoi County 4-0 [3]
4. Grainger 4-0 [5]
5. Marion County 4-0 [8]
6. Dobyns-Bennett 4-0 [10]
7. Knox Central 4-0 [7]
8. Kingston 3-1 [10]
9. South-Doyle 3-1 [12]
10. Cookeville 3-1 [13]
11. Morristown East 3-1 [15]
12. Volunteer 3-1 [27]
13. Johnson County 2-2 [12]
14. co*cke County 2-2 [15]
15. Oak Ridge 2-2 [20]
16. Mercer County 1-3 [19]

Championship Bracket
#1 Seymour 7, #16 Mercer County, KY 0, Forfeit
#2 Union County 3, #15 Oak Ridge 2
#3 Unicoi County 7, #14 co*cke County 4
#4 Grainger County 4, #13 Johnson County 3
#12 Volunteer 4, #5 Marion County 3
#11 Morristown East 6, #6 Dobyns-Bennett 2
#7 Knox Central 9, #10 Cookeville 1
#8 Kingston 3, #9 South-Doyle 1

Sunday’s Schedule
#1 Seymour vs #8 Kingston, 10:00 a.m.
#12 Volunteer vs #4 Grainger, 10:00 a.m.
#3 Unicoi County vs #11 Morristown East, 10:00 a.m.
#2 Union County vs #7 Knox Central, 10:00 a.m.

Seymour/Kingston Loser vs Volunteer/Grainger Loser, Noon
Unicoi County/Morristown East Loser vs Union County/Knox Central Loser, Noon
Seymour/Kingston Winner vs Volunteer/Grainger Winner, Noon
Unicoi County/Morristown East Winner vs Union County/Knox Central Winner, Noon

Championship, 2:00 p.m.
3rd Place, 2:00 p.m.
5th Place, 2:00 p.m.
7th Place, 2:00 p.m.