Ravenwood (19-12-2) took home the Bronze Division championship of the Franklin/Sonic Tournament by defeating the Marshall County Tigerettes 11-1 in three innings on Saturday night at Fly Park in the title game.

Despite coming up short in the championship contest, MCHS coach Heather Denton thought her team made progress during the tournament after they posted a 4-3 record during the two-day event.

Fighting back

"We started off slow, but we came back and fought. I'm proud that we won three in a row after losing our first game this morning. This should help us build some momentum for the District tournament next week," said Denton.

Aided by a nine-run second inning, the Lady Raptors pounded out 13 hits against two Marshall County pitchers to go along with one walk.

Leadoff hitter Lauren Myers helped spark Ravenwood's offensive explosion by going 3-for-3 with a double, 2 RBI, and two runs scored. Autumn Ogletree (3 RBI) and Demi Patonis also tallied two hits apiece for the Lady Raptors, while starting hurler Abby Irwin (2 RBI), Lauren DuPont (1 RBI), Haley Barnette (1 RBI), Drew Dudley (1 RBI), Julia Gentile (1 RBI), and Carlie Cantrell each had one hit.

Four starts

Making her fourth start of the day in the circle, Tigerette pitcher Jacey Perryman appeared to run out of gas against Ravenwood and suffered the loss after yielding six runs over an inning and two thirds on seven hits and a walk.

Marshall County, conversely, mustered just two hits against Irwin, who picked up the win and retired the last seven batters she faced. Ashton Watkins and Allison Sheroski both notched one hit for the Tigerettes with Watkins driving in MCHS' lone run of the contest.

The Tigerettes (12-13) got off to a promising start and pushed across a run in the top of the first inning to grab a 1-0 lead. Following a one-out single by Sheroski, Mary Kate McGehee hit into a fielder's choice to replace Sheroski on the base paths. McGehee then advanced to second on a wild pitch before Watkins laced a RBI single into right centerfield.

Short lead

Marshall County's lead would prove to be short lived, as the Lady Raptors plated two runs in the bottom of the first with the help of a leadoff single by Myers, a wild pitch, a Barnette RBI single, and a RBI double by Ogletree to seize a 2-1 advantage.

In the bottom of the second, Ravenwood turned the game into a rout by crossing home plate nine times in the frame on the strength of a DuPont RBI single, a two-run double by Ogletree, a Dudley RBI single, a RBI double by Gentile, an Irwin two-run single, a two-run double by Myers to forge an 11-1 lead.

Irwin then sat down the Tigerettes in order in the top of the third to keep the mercy rule in effect.