Iron Mountain beats IRS for junior championship

By Marvin Birchfield
STAR CORRESPONDENT

   The grand finale of the Carter County League Junior Softball tournament took place on Saturday, with Iron Mountain Survey Co. defeating Insurance Restoration Systems by the final of 12-6.
   Iron Mountain received first-place honors by finishing at the top spot in both regular season and tournament play.
   "I'm proud of my team for how they played all year, and no individual was more important than others," said Iron Mountain Survey coach Mike Pietrowski.
   In the first inning, Iron Mountain held on defense as Inez Moffitt captured three strikeouts against five batters faced.
   Iron Mountain was knocking the lights out in the bottom of the frame, by connecting on six hits and scoring eight runs.
   "The pitching was real good, the defense was solid and the bats were hot for we hit the ball really well," said Pietrowski.
   The first run scored when Gabby Coffey hit a ground single between first and second base to drive home Jamie Andrews.
   Two runs followed after Mariah Pietrowski smacked a hit to center field to bring home Kayleigh Elsea and Coffey.
   Another shot from Emily Mosley knocked home Pietrowski, and a blast from Melanie Hembree drove in McKenzie Eggers and Mosley.
   The last run of the inning came off of a single from Brittney Thomas bringing home Hembree.
   "You get a team down by eight runs, then it's hard to come back in any league," said Pietrowski.
   IRS was able to score a run in the second, after bases were loaded and a walk to Whitney Jarrett brought in Chesnie Cox.
   "We were just tired, I guess. We played a hard first game and couldn't make it up in the second one," said IRS coach Jeff Williams.
   Iron Mountain extended its lead in the bottom of the frame by grabbing three more scores.
   A fielder's choice from Coffey drove home Andrews, and a hit up the middle from Kayla Winters brought in Coffey.
   Eggers with a nice hit to left field scored Winters, making it a 11-1 advantage for Iron Mountain after two innings.
   "The team we played was a good one, but unfortunately they had to play a double-header today and I think the heat was a little factor -- and the eight runs took some air out of them," said Pietrowski.
   Six consecutive walks were committed by Iron Mountain in the third, scoring four runs with Bethany Williams, Taylor Byars, Cox and Lacey Huggins all coming home for IRS.
   "We could have used just a few more hits today. I think that would have helped us," said Williams.
   Another run was added for Iron Mountain in the bottom of the third, when a single from Moffitt toward first base allowed Thomas to cross the plate.
   In the fourth and final inning of the game IRS was only able to acquire one run, which came from a ground-hit by Williams to bring home Kelli Bradley.
   "We won our first game, and in the second game our girls got a little tired and just gave up, but I'm still proud of them," said Williams.