The Forrest Middle School Lady Rockets (14-1) took over sole possession of first place in the Big South Conference on Tuesday afternoon when they defeated co-leader Lewisburg Middle School 9-1 on the road.

After the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie through the first four innings of play, Forrest (14-1) began to distance themselves from LMS down the stretch and scored eight runs over the next three innings to claim their fourth straight win over the Tigerettes (5-2).

Lost players

Lewisburg also suffered a couple of costly personnel losses during the game, as first baseman Taylor Walls was forced to leave the contest in the bottom of the fourth inning due to a wrist injury before catcher Sydne Solomon hurt her neck during a fall in the top of the sixth.

Bolstered by a six-run sixth inning, the Lady Rockets finished with 11 hits and three walks against LMS starting pitcher Halle Chapman, who saw her record fall to 4-2 on the season. Lewisburg's defense also hurt Chapman's cause by committing three errors, which contributed to six of Forrest's nine runs.

Stats

Samantha King did the most damage at the plate for FMS and went 3-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI. Jordan Yelensky (2 RBI), starting pitcher Lainey Mays (1 RBI), and Kyleah Hengesbach (1 RBI) each tallied two hits for the Lady Rockets as well, while Brooke Paul had one hit.

Mays also picked up the win in the circle and stifled the Tigerettes usually potent offense, as she limited LMS to five hits and one walk over seven innings to go along with four strikeouts.

Walls went 2-for-2 with a run scored to lead Lewisburg offensively, while Solomon added a double and a RBI. Leah Hollingsworth and Skylar Brandon both notched a hit for the Tigerettes as well.

Lead doesn't hold

Lewisburg grabbed an early 1-0 lead by plating a run in the bottom of the first inning. After Walls reached base on a two-out single, Solomon drove her in by blasting an RBI double off the base of the left field fence.

The Lady Rockets tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the second when pinch runner Erin Septer scored on a RBI groundout by Madison Curtis after Forrest had loaded the bases with no outs on singles by King, Warner, and Paul.

Both teams failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities over the next two innings before Forrest broke the stalemate by pushing across a run in the top of the fifth to take a 2-1 lead. Mays doubled to lead off the fifth inning prior to coming home on a two-out RBI double by King.

Run explosion

The Lady Rockets then busted the game wide open in the top of the sixth, as they crossed home plate six times in the frame with the help of a leadoff walk by Paul, two LMS errors, a Yelensky two-run single, a RBI single by Hengesbach, and a King two-run single to forge an 8-1 advantage.

In the seventh inning, Forrest tacked on another run thanks to a leadoff walk by Curtis, an Emma Stacey sacrifice bunt, and a RBI single by Mays to cap their 9-1 victory.