Published Tuesday, April 15, 2008 8:24 AM
Updated Tuesday, April 15, 2008 8:24 AM
Macey Gatlin had three hits and scored four times in the Lady Wolves’ 12-0 win over Hilton Head.
Lady Wolves lead pack into playoffs
Lauren Carr’s two-RBI triple in the fourth inning ignited a Lady Wolves rally, and Vicky Grimsley’s walk-off grand slam sealed the deal in the sixth, leading Timberland to a 12-0 win over visiting Hilton Head last Wednesday night.
The win leaves the Lady Wolves just one win from clinching the top spot in Region 7¬-AAA.
Leftie Shelly Grimsley mixed her pitches well in going the distance to notch her eighth win.
“This was a total team effort across the board,” said Lady Wolves coach Joy Elizondo. “While this win doesn’t clinch the region for us it certainly puts us in the driver’s seat.”
A win in either game against Lake Marion on Tuesday will clinch the regular season championship for Timberland who upped its record to 10-2 overall and a perfect 5-0 in Region 7-AAA.
The Lady Wolves got off to a bit of a sluggish start, needing a run through the batting order to get their timing down before exploding for 10 runs over the game’s final three innings.
It was Lauren Carr’s triple that lit the fuse to the four-run fourth inning.
Up 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, Macey Gatlin and Vicky Grimsley reached on a pair of singles. After Jenna Carr popped out to third, Lauren Carr delivered her big blast, a towering gap shot that plated both Gatlin and Grimsley.
Carr then scored on a wild pitch and Kristen Cooper’s RBI single delivered Kaitlyn Carr who had walked.
“Lauren delivered the key hit when we needed it,” Elizondo said. “I’d been telling the girls to be patient at the plate. They were seeing a lot of off-speed stuff tonight and it took awhile to get their timing down.”
The Lady Wolves added a single run in the fifth keyed by Jenna Carr’s RBI triple.
The five-run sixth that put the game on ice included base knocks by Cooper, her second hit of the game, bookend walks to Gatlin and Amanda Gainey around a Deandra Beauford single, before Vicky Grimsley delivered the game’s big blow.
“Shelly Grimsley is amazing on the mound,” Elizondo said. “She throws strikes, but Vicky is emerging from behind her big sister’s shadow as a star in her own right.”
The junior Grimsley showed it big time Wednesday night.
Macey Gatlin had three hits and scored four times to pace the Lady Wolves’ attack.
The Lady Wolves were set to close out the regular season at home with a doubleheader against Lake Marion on Tuesday. The playoffs begin the week of April 21.