CEDAR BLUFF – The hottest softball team in Cherokee County met one of the hottest players at the plate of late in Spring Garden senior shortstop Neely Welsh on Thursday at Cedar Bluff.

Welsh and the Class 2A, No. 6 Lady Panthers won out in the end. She accounted for all three of her team’s runs, including a solo home run to left field in the top of the third inning, to lead Spring Garden to a 3-1 victory, snapping Class 1A, No. 10 Cedar Bluff’s 10-game winning streak.

Welsh also accounted for a RBI-single to center in the first inning, was hit by a pitch in the fourth, and drove in an insurance run on a grounder to second in the sixth.

“It feels good to get base hits and a home run obviously, but the runners in front of me, they had a lot to do with it getting on base,” Welsh said. “That just put me in a position to where it was easier to get some runs in.”

“She’s been on the ball lately, and this week for sure,” Welsh’s mother and head coach Ann Welsh said. “Last week, she was hitting well and we needed that. The other two (Avery Steward and Kayley Kirk) getting on in front of her where she can hit has been a big key. I’ve been pleased with the end of our lineup too. Sometimes the end of our lineup are the ones that are on base and she’s hitting them in. I’m proud of that. She’s stepping up and doing well. She’s had some home runs, but I’ll take the base hits.”

The younger Welsh gave the Lady Panthers (13-7) an early 1-0 lead. Kirk doubled to left with one out and came home on her single to center in the top of the first inning.

But Cedar Bluff (17-7-2) answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning. Harlie Nelson and Mattie Payne posted back-to-back singles. Lady Tiger pitcher Jordyn Walker then delivered a double to right center to score Nelson to tie the game at a run apiece.

After a scoreless second, Neely Welsh homered to left to put Spring Garden back in front 2-1, and that would be the only other run support Avery Steward would need. She earned the win in the circle after working all seven innings. She scattered five hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

“She hit her spots great,” Coach Welsh said. “We switched up speed on some of them. She’s got a great change up, and they fell for it. When I could see that was working in her favor, we tried to use it a lot more. I thought she did a really good job of hitting her spots, keeping the ball low and changing up speeds.”

Something else that aided Steward’s pitching effort was the Lady Panther defense.

“I was pleased with our defense. I’ve been pleased all week with them,” Coach Welsh said. “We’ve struggled a little bit doing that when Avery’s pitching. Even though we didn’t score a lot of runs, I felt like we hit the ball better. We talked about when she’s pitching the other team tends to hit her and puts the ball in play, so we’ve got to be on top of our toes on defense.”

But everything wasn’t exactly perfect for the Lady Panthers on Thursday. They left the bases loaded in the third and fourth innings.

“We can’t do that,” Coach Welsh said. “It worked in our favor tonight, but that’s a pick-me-up for the other team. You can’t let that happen, especially in close ball games. You’ve got to find a way to get at least one of those runs I feel like. That’s something else to work on.”
Welsh and Kirk had a pair of hits apiece for the Lady Panthers. Abbey Steward delivered a double to left in the third inning. Avery Steward, Layla Ingram and Madison Brown each singled.

Nelson posted a pair of hits for Cedar Bluff. Walker doubled and Payne singled. Za’Niya Kyle added a hit and a walk.

Walker suffered the loss for the Lady Tigers. She also went the distance, giving up three earned runs on eight hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

“There at the end, we got some runners on, but we just couldn’t get the timely hit,” Cedar Bluff coach Garrett Crane said. “All credit to them (Spring Garden) though. We bounced some balls up in the field but they backed up the plays behind them. That’s a pretty good ball club.

“Streaks and records are made to be broken. It’s fun to ride that roller coaster of them and do that, but we’ve just got to keep in mind when one gets broken, here we come again.”