thedailytimes.com : Your 24/7 news source

A pair of regular-season meetings between the Heritage and Lenoir City softball teams saw the Lady Mountaineers sweep the contests by just a combined eight runs.

Third-seeded Heritage left nothing to chance Thursday night on its home field in the District 4-AAA Tournament. Exploding for 11 first-inning runs and getting an overpowering performance in the pitcher's circle from Miranda Rayburn, the Lady Mountaineers routed the Lady Panthers, 14-0, in four-and-a-half innings. Up next for Heritage (17-17), which advanced to the double-elimination round that begins Monday, is regular-season runner-up Farragut.

"We'd had two close games this year with Lenoir City, a much-improved team from the past," said Heritage coach Mark Dowlen. "Coming into (Thursday's game), I reminded them we are still in single-elimination, and there are five seniors who didn't want this to be their last game."

Indeed, the motivation to extend not just her final season with the Lady Mountaineers but the campaign for all of her teammates was heavy motivation for Rayburn. The Heritage ace whiffed five of the first six batters she faced and allowed but a bloop single over five frames of work. Rayburn closed with six strikeouts, and only one out was recorded by her outfielders.

"This being my senior year, it's very important to me to try to lead my team as far as I can take them," Rayburn said. "That's probably 99 percent of my motivation because I'm really attached to my team. We're really bonded together. We have a good chemistry. So I want to do the best that I can, and all of our other seniors do, too. It's not just about us but it's a team thing."

The Lady Mountaineers delivered on that team theme in impressive fashion during the 15-batter, 11-run bottom of the first inning. Every spot in the Heritage lineup scored a run during the first time through the lineup, with Tiffany Ervin and Rayburn each slapping two-run singles in the frame. Ervin actually added a second RBI single in the frame and ultimately scored her team's 14th and final run. Rayburn drove in the team's 12th run and accounted for its 13th tally.

"A good, solid win, scoring a lot of runs, is a big confidence-booster for the team so that when we go into a tough game against Farragut," Rayburn said, "it's going to give us a little bit of confidence to go out there and do the job."

Amanda Hall was tagged with the loss for Lenoir City, which got a two-out single from Courtney Taylor in the first inning for its only base hit.