MARYVILLE – Have a Senior Day why don't ya,
Jenica Brown!
Brown and the Maryville Scots pulled off a Senior Day to remember as they swept both ends of a doubleheader from Piedmont here Saturday afternoon. Maryville won 5-3 and 6-4 to complete a perfect 6-0 week and improve to 13-3 this month.
The Scots also assured themselves of no worse than a third-place regular season finish, which lands them at the Collegiate Conference of the South tournament site hosted by the No. 2 seed – likely Huntingdon. Piedmont probably is headed to top-seeded Belhaven. All of that is determined after Sunday's final games.
Maryville's three seniors – Brown,
Kennedy Henry and
Annie Fowler – all played roles in Saturday's big wins. Fowler scored a run in Game 1 and performed flawlessly at second base, while Henry nearly grabbed a pitching victory in Game 2 with five strong innings in the circle.
Brown's Big Afternoon
But it was Brown who showed out the most, going 6-for-8 in the doubleheader including a 4-for-4 effort in Game 2. She tripled home two runs in the first inning of Game 1, giving the Scots a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Then she had an RBI-single in the first inning of the nightcap and delivered the final run of the game with an RBI-double.
"This is everything I could have asked for on my Senior Day," Brown said. "Being with this team and being able to help this team succeed brings me so much joy. I couldn't have asked for anything better."
Brown is batting .440 over her last 15 games, raising her average from .264 to its current .336. That's fourth on the team behind
Sara Koonce at .407,
Brecca Williams at .395 and
Bailey Myers at .345.
"Struggling a little bit early in the season and being able to come out on the other side, it just shows what we are capable of," Brown said. "The late-game wins we have compiled – we have a good team and no matter what part of the game we are in, we can win."
Williams also had a sparkling afternoon, going 4-for-6 with three runs scored and one batted in. Maryville's leadoff batter is tops on the team with 49 hits, and she and Koonce are tied for team honors with 37 runs scored.
After Brown tripled home a pair in that first inning of the day, Maryville tacked on three more in the second for a 5-0 lead. Koonce knocked in two with a single to left and Myers followed with her team-leading 31st RBI of the season, plating Koonce.
Ackerman's 11th Complete Game
Maryville's
Megan Ackerman made those runs stand up as she scattered nine hits and allowed the Lady Lions just two tallies in the fourth and one more in the seventh. Ackerman improved to 11-10 after pitching her 11th complete game of the season – surpassing last year's total of 10.
"Megan's our constant," Scots head coach
Jill Moore said. "They were hitting the ball like good teams do and we made some mistakes, but they didn't cost us. Megan knew what she needed to do and got us out of some jams. She was outstanding today."
Game 2 was a little more back and forth, with Maryville not taking the lead for keeps until the last of the sixth.
After Brown put the Scots on top in the first, Williams and Koonce drove in runs in the fourth for a 3-1 Maryville margin. Piedmont pulled within one but then
Micayla Clark delivered a pinch-hit single to right that scored Brown, who had doubled.
Hill Comes Through in Clutch
Piedmont tied it in the sixth and nearly took the lead. A Maryville run-down retired Piedmont's Jasmine Lowery between first and second after her RBI single but just before another run crossed. The Scots then answered in the last of the sixth as, with two out,
Emily Hill delivered a clutch single through the right side and Brown doubled home another.
Paige Dickinson was robbed of extra bases on a fine running catch by Lady Lion Hannah Smith to end the inning or it could have been an even wider margin.
But Dickinson had batters to retire in top of the seventh. Piedmont put the tying run at second in the seventh before the Maryville right-hander forced a final foul-out to
Ava Whitmire in left field. Dickinson pitched the final two innings and picked up her sixth win against two losses.
"Jenica was outstanding at the plate today," Moore said. "She always takes her role to heart. And today, knowing this team has her back, she was amazing. In every position – at the plate, in the field – that's Jenica. That's what she does.
"Offensively, she was on a different level today. I'm so happy that on her Senior Day and her last game on her home field, she was able to play the way she always wants to play. She's seeing the ball great and I hope it continues."
The twin wins marked the first Maryville doubleheader sweep of Piedmont since 2009, and the first one at home since 2007. The Scots had lost five straight to Piedmont coming into Saturday.
Maryville improved to 24-13 overall and 12-4 in the CCS. That's a two-win improvement in conference over a year ago and three wins ahead of last year's overall pace. Piedmont dropped to 23-16 and 10-6.
"It's a good place for us to be; our team is having fun," Moore said. "They're playing well, they are playing with confidence and playing the way they know how. For that, I am so proud of them. That's what makes teams great.
"There are really talented teams in our league. But when you have a team that plays as a team and they're having fun and they are confident, that is a tough team to beat."
