Lady Eagles Defeat County Rival Pigeon Forge

By: Lee Ramsey
lee@seymourherald.com
Some things never change. No matter what the sport, Seymour and Pigeon Forge are always battling it out. This time it was softball as the Lady Eagles showed why they are in first place in the IMAC as they shut out the Lady Tigers by a score of 6-0.
Celeste Whaley came through with another outstanding pitching performance for Seymour with a three hit shutout while striking out 12 Lady Tigers.
The Lady Eagles were led in hitting by junior Caitlin Cox driving in the team’s first 2 RBI’s. The first one came from a solo homerun over the centerfield wall early in the game giving the Lady Eagles a 1-0 lead.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the 4th when Carly Lewis led off the inning with a double. Cox drove her in to make the score 2-0.
Kaitlin Atkins then got on 1st with a single then Macy Crain hit a double driving in Atkins making the score 3-0.
In the bottom of the 6th the Lady Eagles got 3 more insurance runs which weren’t needed. Cox doubled to left, Atkins singled, an error scored Cox’s pinch runner Samantha Baldwin, Kerigan Newport drove in Atkins, and Courtney Irvin drilled a RBI triple scoring Newport making the score 6-0.
“We’ve played so much we gave them three days off in a row and didn’t know if that would hurt or help. The first few innings we’re like ‘what have we done?’ We were slow and really not into it,” said Coach Dana Carter. “Then we started attacking the ball.
“This is just a friendly rivalry (Pigeon Forge) and we keep it that way. Jess (PF head coach Sterling) and I are good friends so it’s always done in good spirits. It’s different now because we’re in different conferences and everything. We don’t see each other all the time, but it’s always fun.”
The Lady Eagles are living up to their pre-season expectations as they are sitting on top of the IMAC in excellent position with the approaching district tournament.
Seymour finishes the month of April in two tournaments at Soddy Daisy and Morristown West then close the regular season at Morristown East before beginning the all important district tournament May 5 through 12.