BY JEFF CATE (TEAM FYN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR):

Walker Valley clearly channeled their inner Pedro Cerrano in the movie “Major League”, waking up their bats with 14 combined runs and 31 total hits in their first two games at Spring Fling on Wednesday. That trend continued early on in a rematch against Page, with a slot in the Class 4A championship on the line. Three home runs in the first 2 innings and 12 total hits offensively combined with determination to keep the season alive equaled out to a 10-8 Walker Valley victory on Thursday.

Alyssa Davenport and Madison Thomas came out of the corral strong, connecting on first inning homers as the Lady Mustangs raced out to a quick 5-0 lead. Davenport would add a two run bomb in the top of the second inning to push the Walker Valley lead to 7-1. She would finish 2/2 from the plate with five runs batted in while Thomas was solid in the box as well, going 2/4 with two RBIs.

“To start the game with such a big inning really set the tone for the game”, Walker Valley coach Lauren Limburg said. “I am so proud of Alyssa and Madison for hitting those home runs. They really put the work in outside of practice and it paid off there.”

Page would cut the advantage down to 7-5 going into the fourth inning. The Feisty Fillies were able to add a little cushion to their lead, getting a run to push the lead up to 8-5 when Karly Blackwell scored when Ryann Presswood drew a walk. After a Morgan Rice RBI single in the sixth inning and a Brylie Davis sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh inning, the Walker Valley lead was 10-6 with three outs standing between them and a championship game appearance.

A day after setting both the Walker Valley single season and career strikeout record, Presswood showed her toughness from the bump when the lead shrank after a solo home run and two doubles kept the Lady Patriots within striking distance, trailing 10-8. The righty would settle in, getting her ninth strikeout of the game followed by a groundout to end the threat. Presswood would go the distance in this matchup in a 112-pitch outing.

Walker Valley will take on Green Hill on Friday afternoon at Blue Raider Softball Field at MTSU (first pitch at 1:30pm eastern), looking for their first state title. This will be the third time in program history that the Feisty Fillies will be playing for a state championship (previously in 2005 and 2018).

“These girls have had the goal of winning the state championship all season”, Limburg added when talking about playing for a state championship. “They believe in and love each other so much. This is a special group, and they will be ready to go.”

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