MONTGOMERY, Ala. – That's win No. 30 for the Maryville Scots and a good start to the Collegiate Conference of the South Softball Tournament.
Maryville had minimal problems with Agnes Scott in a 9-1 opening round victory on Wednesday afternoon. The sixth-inning run by Agnes Scott – merely playing a sixth inning – was more than the Scotties achieved in two games against Maryville back on March 29. That doubleheader sweep went 8-0 and 10-0, both lasting just five innings.
Whitney Carr went the distance in the circle for the Scots, allowing just one run (earned) on two hits. She didn't have her best control but the junior limited damage and allowed just the one run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Maryville then answered with its best offensive inning of the game to end this one early by the eight-run rule. The Scots scored four times in the sixth, keyed by a two-run single from
Paige Dickinson.
Kaitlin Woodruff also had a run-scoring hit in that inning before
Micayla Clark sent everyone home with a bases-loaded, walk-off walk of all things.
"Whitney got us a win," Maryville head coach
Jill Moore said. "She pitched well. We passed the bat, we got base hits, stole bases and did what we needed to do to get going in the tournament. And I was excited about it."
Dickinson Delivers
Dickinson was one of four Scots with two hits to support a 12-hit showing. She was joined by
Bailey Myers,
Ava Whitmire and
Cierra Hudson. Dickinson was the RBI leader with three and Clark had two.
Maryville jumped in front 2-0 in the second as Whitmire and Hudson delivered RBI-singles. It became a 5-0 lead in the third after Dickinson drove home a run with a base hit up the middle, Myers knocked in another with a groundout and Clark singled up the middle to push across one more.
Carr improved to 8-2 on the season and lowered her ERA to 2.93. Dickinson's three-RBI afternoon was her best game since March 16 and pushed her season total to 38, just three behind team-leader
Sara Koonce at 41.
Koonce and
Brecca Williams at the top of the order went just 1-for-7 at the plate but they did score two runs apiece to lead the team in that category. Five different Scots had steals: Myers, Clark, Whitmire, Woodruff and
Sarah Phelps.
Big Games Ahead
Maryville jumps into Thursday's quarterfinal round and takes on big bad Belhaven in a 1 p.m. Central time start. The Blazers are 34-4 and ranked No. 6 in the country via the latest NFCA Poll. The winner of MC-Belhaven plays Friday against the winner of Huntingdon-Piedmont. The host Hawks are 32-4 and ranked ninth nationally. The loser of Maryville-Belhaven plays Thursday night at 7 p.m. Central time against LaGrange, which opened the tournament with an 8-7 loss to Piedmont in eight innings.
"It's the fun part," Moore said of the upcoming games. "Anything can happen in the postseason. We have a great group of upper-class players ready for a fight and playing for their lives. We are ready, and I'm excited to get after it Thursday."
Maryville's 30th victory of the season marks the first time the Scots have won that many since the 2018 squad went 31-14 after winning the USA South Tournament.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
| Opening Rounds | Wednesday, May 1 |
| Time: 11:00 am |
Game 1 |
No. 4 Piedmont 8, No. 5 LaGrange 7 |
Host: Huntingdon |
Watch Live |
| Time: 3:00 pm |
Game 2 |
No. 3 Maryville 9, No. 6 Agnes Scott 1 |
Host: Huntingdon
Live Stats |
| Quarterfinals | Thursday, May 2, 2024 |
| Time: 10:00 am |
Game 3 |
No. 1 Huntingdon v. Piedmont |
Host: Huntingdon |
Watch Live |
| Time: 1:00 pm |
Game 4 |
No. 2 Belhaven v. Maryville |
Host: Huntingdon |
| Time: 4:00 pm |
Game 5 |
Agnes Scott v. Loser of Game 3 |
Host: Huntingdon |
Watch Live |
| Time: 7:00 pm |
Game 6 |
LaGrange v. Loser of Game 4 |
Host: Huntingdon |
| Semifinals | Friday, May 3, 2024 |
| Time: 11:00 am |
Game 7 |
Winner of Game 3 v. Winner of Game 4 |
Host: Huntingdon |
Watch Live |
| Time: 2:00 pm |
Game 8 |
Winner of Game 5 v. Winner of Game 6 |
Host: Huntingdon |
| Time: 5:00 pm |
Game 9 |
Loser of Game 7 v. Winner of Game 8 |
Host: Huntingdon |
| Finals | Saturday, May 4, 2024 |
| 12:00 pm |
Game 10 |
CHAMPIONSHIP: Winner of Game 7 v. Winner of Game 9 |
Host: Huntingdon |
Watch Live |
| 3:00 pm |
Game 11 |
If Necessary Game |
Host: Huntingdon |
