BY JEFF CATE (TEAM FYN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR)

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Weather was the only thing that stopped the Lady Mustangs’ momentum at Spring Fling on Wednesday. After rallying from a 6-0 deficit to beat Arlington 12-6, setting up the matchup with Nolensville, everyone would have to wait until Thursday morning because of weather delays to see who would extend their stay around Murfreesboro for a little longer. After 7 innings of textbook postseason softball play, Walker Valley did not want to head home yet.

Addison Woodall got things going for Walker Valley with an RBI double that drove in two and the Lady Mustangs had a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st inning. Woodall would cross the plate shortly after as a wild pitch got past the Nolensville catcher, extending the lead to 3-0.

That would be the score until the 4th inning when Kendra McNiel made contact on Feisty Fillies’ ace Ryann Presswood’s pitch that cleared the fence and Nolensville finally made a mark on the scoreboard, cutting the Walker Valley lead to 3-1 after 4.

Addi Leitchty would send another solo homer over the fence for Nolensville in the 5th inning and now a 3-2 Walker Valley lead. The Lady Knights had a chance to tie the game in the 5th but a base runner for Nolensville was thrown out at third base and a shot to centerfield qas hauled in by Woodall to end the inning, allowing the Lady Mustangs to keep their 1 run advantage.

Nolensville had another opportunity with a runner in scoring position in the 6th inning, but Presswood would throw a huge strikeout to end the threat.

Presswood would get 2 strikeouts in the final inning, striking out 2 Lady Knight batters with the other out being a ground out.

Walker Valley would have to regroup quickly and take on Dobyns Bennett, who defeated the Lady Mustangs in round one 4-0, in their next game.

Karly Blackwell and Alyssa Davenport would each get singles in the 1st inning, with Blackwell scoring to give Walker Valley a quick 1-0 lead on a Dobyns Bennett error.

After both teams went scoreless in the 2nd and 3rd innings, Allie McConnelee homered for Dobyns Bennett to tie the game at 1-1. The Lady Indians would load the bases up after Cati Zani walked and was followed by singles from Sophia Dean and Payton Moore. Zani would score from third base when Julianne Tipton singled, giving Dobyns Bennett their first lead of the game 2-1.

After going scoreless on both sides in the 5th inning, both teams would make their marks on the scoreboard at the Starplex complex in the 6th inning. The Lady Indians would push their lead to 3-1 in the top of the 6th as Moore scored on a sacrifice fly from Claudia Maness. In Walker Valley’s half of the inning, Woodall and Presswood would reach base on Lady Indians errors and Woodall would eventually reach home to keep the Lady Mustangs within striking distance, 3-2, going into the 7th inning.

Dobyns Bennett only managed a single in the top half of the inning, but Walker Valley was not able to get anything going and went 3 up and 3 down to end the game along with their season.

The Feisty Fillies end the 2024 season with a record of 32-9-1

Follow Jeff on “X” at @TheJeffCate