Trigg County rode the strong pitching of Tember Oliver and the bats at the top of the lineup to defeat Clay County 9-0 in the opening game of the Class 2A State Softball Championships on Friday in Owensboro.
Oliver shone in one of her best pitching performances of the season, needing only 71 pitches to limit Clay County to three singles in registering the shutout. She struck out nine and walked none, retiring 11 straight batters at one point.
Trigg gave Oliver (16-1) all of the runs she would need in the first inning, with the junior hurler helping her own cause with an RBI single. Trigg loaded the bases with no outs in the first but only scored twice, with MaKenna Hendricks drawing a bases-loaded walk for the second run.
Trigg left seven runners on base in the first four innings before breaking through with a six-run fifth inning. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases, and Jazzy Tejada scored two with a double to right field – Trigg’s only hit of the inning.
Tejada, Oliver, and Kady Fuller each had two hits, and EmmaLee Futrell reached base twice and scored twice.
Clay County, which, like Trigg, was making its first appearance in the Class 2A State Tournament, never advanced a runner to second base in the contest. The Tigers dropped to 7-8 with the loss.
Trigg County advanced to the semifinals to play North Oldham (7-6), who scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Lawrence County.
Friday’s win was the first at the state level for Trigg’s softball program. The 5:15pm semifinal can be heard on WKDZ 100.9 FM and online at whvoradio.com.
