Forrest sweeps Lady Broncos

Sometimes you just take care of business and move on and that is what the Forrest Lady Rockets did Friday night in Chapel Hill, sweeping FC Boyd Christian School 16-1 and 14-2.

At times it was not very pretty, but it was very effective as the Lady Rockets banged out 25 hits in the two games versus the Lady Broncos' slow pitching.

Forrest coach Becky Cheatham said about the twin bill sweep, "I thought we did very well in the first game, but the second game I wasn't pleased with the focus at the beginning of the game; however I think it is an indication of a good team when you can battle back when your focus wasn't good. We need to take that and build upon it. You cannot make a habit of coming in against any opponent being unfocused."

On the other hand, the Forrest pitching staff turned in an excellent performance as Shelby Stinnett and Brooke Herron combined on a no-hitter in game one.

Cheatham said about the pitching, "I was really happy with our pitching. The runs were unearned. I was happy we got an eighth grader in the game and do well. I don't think anybody reached base on Sara (Jordan). I was pleased with her performance and getting some experience under her belt because that will help us next year."

Stinnett (11-0) started and turned in three innings, overpowering Boyd by striking out seven of the eleven batters she faced, leaving the senior standout just two whiffs shy of the 1,000 mark for her career.

Stinnett walked one Boyd hitter and hit another and there were no balls hit out of the infield.

Herron was just as masterful, coming in to set down six out of the seven batters she came up against, but was blemished by an unearned run.

Forrest scored seven runs in the first inning, six in the second and three more in the fifth.

Caitlyn Rotchford was 2-3 with 2 RBI's, Ciara Cook turned in a 2-3 performance at the dish with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI, Jessica Harmon had a nice game, going 2-2 with an RBI and 2 runs scored, and Stinnett got the only extra base hit that drove home two Forrest runners.

Courtney Hollandsworth had 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 score, 1 steal and two RBI's.

Herron cooled off a bit at the plate, but still went 1-3 with 2 RBI's and 1 one run scored and Adrean Jordan and Whitney Stofel both went 1-2 with an RBI each.

In game two, something happened that had never happened before when FC Boyd took a 1-0 first inning lead.

Forrest starter Rachel Curtis issued a leadoff walk to Mahaley Keele who proceeded to swipe second and third as the Lady Rockets took a short nap.

Keele scooted home on a fielder's choice RBI by Megan Boren before Curtis struck out two out of the next three hitters to retire the side.

Boyd's first lead ever versus Forrest did not last very long as the Lady Rockets scored 4 times in the top of the second and never trailed again.

Adrean Jordan led off the top of the second with a walk and came all the way around to score when Herron laid down a sacrifice bunt.

Rotchford re-started the rally with a double to center and Harmon came in to run for the Forrest catcher.

Stofel followed Rotchford with an RBI double that scored Harmon, making it 2-1.

Stofel took second on the throw home and scored on an RBI slap hit by Cook.

Cook stole second and took third on a bad throw and one pitch later, the sophomore speedster raced home for run number four on a wild pitch.

Two infield errors on the Lady Rockets in the bottom of the second and Boyd's first hit of the double header by Olivia Newby set up another scoring chance as they had the bases loaded with one out.

Curtis whiffed the next Lady Bronco and got out of the jam on a force play at third.

Forrest tacked on a single run in the third on an RBI single by Herron that scored Jordan, who reached on a one out error.

Boyd came back with a run of their own in the home half of the frame on back-to-back doubles by Kaci Lupo and Sara Buckner.

The Lady Rockets made it a 9-2 ballgame, scoring four times in the fourth with the big blow coming off the bat of Adrean Jordan, who bashed a three-run shot for her first varsity homerun.

Jordan said about her first dinger, "I just put a good swing on it. I have been working on practice really hard and I just got it where I wanted it. We lost our focus there a little bit, but that will happen from time to time. As long as you come back and don't keep it like that. It will happen from time to time."

Jordan's younger sister Sara came to the circle in the bottom of the inning and set down Boyd 1-2-3, striking out two Lady Broncos.

The Lady Rockets scored five runs in the top of the fifth as Curtis drove home three with an inside the park homerun and Cook and Chelsea Johnson knocked in one run each.

Sara Jordan, called up from the middle school on Wednesday also had a perfect fifth, striking out two more Boyd hitters, ending the run rule contest at 14-2.

The elder Jordan smiled and said about playing with sister Sara, "It was fun, it was good. She is coming up good, she is taking after me."

Herron had her hitting eye back in game two, going 3-3 in the game and Cook finished off a spectacular day at the dish, turning in a 3-3 mark with three runs scored, drove home two and had two thefts on the base paths.

After a week of easy games the Lady Rockets will get some competition next week, hosting District 9-A second place Cascade on Monday before going on the road for non-conference match-ups with Page on Wednesday and Franklin County on Thursday.

On Friday night, the First Annual Battle of Marshall County takes place when all three county high schools will play a round robin at the Field of Dreams in Chapel Hill, beginning at 5:30 p.m. when the Lady Rockets square off with Cornersville.

Game two will feature MCHS vs. Forrest and the finale will pit the Tigerettes versus the Lady Bulldogs at 8:30.