Lady Red top Elizabethton to claim state tourney berth

NEWPORT — There are times when the other team just plays better softball. Cocke County did just that on Friday evening, as the Lady Red defeated Elizabethton, 9-1, in a Class 3A sectional contest to advance to the state tournament for the first time. "They played great and we didn't, but you don't make excuses at a time like this," Elizabethton head coach Kenneth Hardin said. "They are a very deserving team, you tip your hat sometimes. Sometimes you have just got to say they were better than us tonight and they were." Elizabethton (23-15), which played in the state tournament in 2017, fell one game short in this one, but the Cyclones started just two seniors and one junior to reach this point. "We were picked fourth or fifth in the conference coming in," Hardin said. "We are one of the last 16 standing in the state. I am so proud of these kids." Cocke County (35-7), which lost in the sectional round last season to Unicoi County, left no doubt in this one, scoring five runs in the second and then rode the four-hit, no-walk pitching of Hallie Hartsell, which was backed up by flawless defense. "That is what our motto has been all year long has been attitude and effort," Cocke County head coach Danny Hartsell said. "It is just hit the ball, out-hit everybody and don't give up no walks. Everything will work itself out. We are going to make mistakes, we are going to make errors, all that stuff is going to happen." It didn't happen much in this one. "We came out on fire and we just came out on top tonight," Hailee Hartsell said. "Every time we go into the cage we work on outside balls and that is all they threw us so we just set on it." That began in the second inning on a pair of inside-the-park home runs on perfectly placed balls by Chloe Niethammer and C.G. McNealy, who's sinking line drive to left field got past a lunging Emilee Whitson to score three runs off starting pitcher Lacie Gobble, who was relieved in the fifth by Ava Hanson. "We got to them, but we just didn't get them. It happens," Hardin said. "We didn't hit the ball well enough to beat a team like this tonight. We hit it a little bit late, but we didn't early. She is one of the best pitchers in the area for a reason." Cocke County, which finished with 13 hits, added one run in the third and three more in the fourth. "Defensively, the effort was great, the pitcher on the mound was great and we just continued to hit the ball," Danny Hartsell said. "We have always told them if we can score six or seven runs a ball game that we can beat a lot of people with our pitching and our defense. That proved again tonight." Ellie Proffitt had three hits, Niethammer had a double, home run and two RBIs, while McNealy drove in three runs. Meredith Grooms also had two hits, including a triple for the Lady Red, which will play in the Class 3A state tournament for the first time next week in Murfreesboro. "It is a lot of work. Every year we have made history, this is the furthest we have ever been," Hailee Hartsell said. "Last year we got here, but we lost. We knew this year going into it we just had to give it everything we had...I think we have a good chance if we just go and play hard." Elizabethton, which finished with four hits, had three in the sixth, with Katie Gryder reaching on a double and scoring on a single by Sadie Williams. Gobble and Whitson also had hits for the Cyclones, which had a memorable campaign, including Hardin picking up the 500th win of his coaching tenure at the Carter County school. He was more interested in winning this one. "It does (mean a lot) personally, but I would rather these kids have this win tonight than all those. I have told everybody, it is not that big of a deal, I have been here a while," Hardin said. "You have got to have good kids to win, you just do, and you are nothing without good parents supporting the kids. It is going to be tough to beat good teams if you don't have it."