Lady Eagles top Pigeon Forge

Rally to beat county rival in fifth In a softball meeting between county rivals, the Seymour Lady Eagles erupted for six runs in the fifth inning to pull away from the Pigeon Forge Lady Tigers 10-4 last week at Seymour. Seymour is now 4-4 and after riding the arm of freshman pitching ace Chere Monday for the first part of the season, the Lady Eagles are starting to pick it up on offense. Brittany Helton led the Seymour offensive charge, going 3-3 at the plate. Monday helped her own cause by stroking two doubles. Monday (2-3) was again in top form on the mound, allowing only five Pigeon Forge hits and striking out eight. The freshman showed some composure after seeing the Lady Tigers (3-1) take a 3-0 in the second inning. She regrouped and only allowed one additional run the rest of the game. Haley Johnson gave the Lady Tigers the early lead by belting a two-run double that scored Jessica Carter and April Haygood. Carter had reached on a walk and Haygood had singled to put runners at first and second. Haygood later came in to score on a sacrifice grounder by Chelsea Oliver to make it 3-0. Monday hit her first double in the home half of the second and put the Lady Eagles on the board, scoring on a Whitney Kile sacrifice. A sacrifice fly by Lauren Mynatt scored Hannah Galyon to cut Pigeon Forge’s lead to 3-2 after two innings. Merideth Weber scored the Lady Eagles go-ahead run on a RBI double by Monday, her second double of the day. Helton had tied the game, scoring on a fielding error earlier in the inning. Seymour’s bats came alive in the fifth with hits by Channing Lodari, Kile , Jenni Coker, Helton, Lindsay Day and another RBI single by Monday to take a 10-3 advantage. The Lady Tigers added a run when Tara Cannon scored in sixth. Seymour was coming off a heartbreaking 8-7 extra-inning affair with the AAA power Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats the night before. In the first meeting between the two schools on the softball diamond, Seymour had a 5-2 lead in the seventh inning before a three-run homer by Lady Wildcat All State candidate Kayla Sparks made it 5-5. Seymour appeared to have the game in hand again in the bottom of the eighth but strikeout left the bases loaded. Oak Ridge capitalized in the 10th inning, scoring the go-ahead run on a Seymour error, their eighth of the game.