On Monday, the Forrest Middle School Lady Rockets ran their record to 2-0 on the young season when they defeated the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs 8-1 on the road in the first game of a doubleheader.

Aided by a four-run first inning, Forrest held a 4-1 lead through the first four frames before crossing home plate four more times in the top of the fifth to claim their second straight win over the Lady Bulldogs (2-2).

Good start

Lady Rocket starting hurler Lainey Mays turned in a strong performance in the circle and yielded just one unearned run in five innings of work on two hits and three walks while notching six strikeouts en route to earning the victory.

"I thought Lainey looked good. She struggled at times with her control, but she always rallied back," said Forrest coach Bunky Elmore. "It was important to get off to a good start, but we let up after that. I wanted to do more in the middle innings, but we picked it up at the end."

Hannah Singleton and Aliyah Holder each singled to account for both Cornersville hits, while Sam Prosser added two walks and a run scored.

Lady Bulldog starting hurler Kirsten Young was unable to overcome three CMS errors and suffered her second loss of the season, allowing eight runs, four earned, on eight hits and a walk over five innings to go along with three strikeouts.

At the plate

Jordan Yelensky (2 RBI), Kyleah Henegsbach (1 RBI), and Carson Warner (1 RBI) registered two hits apiece to lead the Lady Rockets at the plate, while Rickee Gayle Carter and Mays each had one hit with Carter driving in two runs.

Forrest seized the momentum early by crossing home plate four times in the top of the first inning with the help of singles from Yelensky and Warner, three Cornersville errors, and a Carter two-run double to grab a 4-0 lead.

"They just outhit us. They forced us to do something with the ball and we made mistakes," said CMS coach Eric Crabtree. "It's hard to fight out of an early hole like that especially when you dig one that deep."

Threat stopped

The Lady Bulldogs had a chance to cut into the deficit in the bottom of the first after putting runners on second and first with two outs thanks to a single by Singleton and a Prosser walk, but Mays retired Aliyah Holder on a groundout to snuff out the threat.

Young held the Lady Rockets scoreless over the next three frames before Cornersville tallied a run in the bottom of the fourth inning to narrow the gap to 4-1. After drawing a one-out walk, Prosser scored on a Holder single when the Forrest right fielder allowed the ball to roll past her. Following a walk by Mikaela King, both CMS base runners moved up 60 feet on a Courtney Darnell groundout, but Mays struck out the next Lady Bulldog batter to minimize the damage.

In the top of the fifth, the Lady Rockets put the game out of reach by pushing across four runs in the frame behind a Emma Stacey walk, a single by Mays, a Yelensky two-run double, and a pair of RBI singles from Henegsbach and Warner to forge an 8-1 lead.

Mays then retired Cornersville in order in the bottom half of the fifth inning to wrap up the win for Forrest.