Stories from Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Rear view mirror Friday, March 31 Baseball Marshall County 8, Tullahoma 3 Class A Classic Forrest 12, East Robertson 2 Cornersville at Viking Classic at Community Cornersville 5, Nolensville 2 Community 13, Cornersville 3 Softball Marshall County at Zaxby’s Tournament/Clarksville Rich Ellen Park...

Lewisburg’s William J. Mitchell passed away on January 9, just a few months short of his induction into the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s (TSSAA) Hall of Fame Class of 2017. The 35th Annual event took place at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Murfreesboro Saturday afternoon where family members of Mitchell came from all over the country to honor a man who officiated football and basketball for over 50 years. “My dad was such a humble person he would of course be honored, but he wouldn’t make a big deal of it because this was his everyday thing of just contributing to the community and his family, especially his TSSAA family that he loved,” Mitchell’s daughter, Jerrie Henry said.

The Forrest Lady Rockets (16-1, 4-0) are off to their best start since winning the school’s second Class A state championship in the 2014-2015 season when they won 14 consecutive games to start the campaign and finished with a 35-5 record. Forrest won 12 straight games to start this season before losing 6-3 to 3A Lawrence County in a Saturday morning pool game at the Middle Tennessee Softball Coaches Association Tournament at Ridley Park in Columbia last weekend. Undeterred, the Lady Rockets came back to sweep Centennial, Creek Wood, and Stewarts Creek before getting revenge on Lawrence County in the title game, shutting out the Lady Wildcats 5-0 to win the tournament.

MCHS rode a season-high two game winning streak into the nightcap of the Zaxby's Invitational against highly regarded McLean County and after scoring just five runs in the four games preceding the streak, the Tigerettes have now outscored its last three opponents 39-5, including a huge 13-4 win over the Lady Cougars. The resurgent Tigerettes’ offense scored 13 runs on nine hits in just three innings after the game was called for time after the Lady Cougars last at bat in the fourth inning.

The Marshall County Tigerettes faced stiff competition two weeks ago at the Southern Warrior Classic in Murfreesboro, playing three games against three 3A teams that had played in the state tournament within the past five years. Friday night at the Zaxby's Invitational in Clarksville offered little reprieve with another 3A matchup against Springfield in the tournament opener. Marshall County was clicking on all cylinders on this night, beating the Yellow Jackets 6-0 behind a strong pitching performance from Marlee Woodard and great defense by the starting nine.

As the one of the best seasons in recent memory for Lewisburg Middle School (18-3) winds down, the Tigers traveled a short distance down the road to take on Cornersville Middle School on a rare Saturday afternoon game. And much like the rest of the Tigers 17 wins, LMS dominated the Bulldogs from the pitcher’s mound as Logan McKnight threw 5.2 innings of shutout ball and Carson Cheek finished off the game for the 10-0 win. "We've kind of got a little momentum," LMS coach Beau Hardison said. "Yesterday we played a double header against Columbia Academy (both wins) and we had 23-24 hits in the two games."