By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

GAYLESVILLE – Cherokee County High School softball sophomore pitcher Emma Hill had a tough off-season. She injured her back last year and had to shut down her pitching during the summer for eight months to give it a much-needed rest.

Hill had quite the comeback at White Plains in early March – her first outing in the circle since her back problem. She tossed an 11-inning marathon with 20 strikeouts in a one-run Lady Warrior victory.

On Saturday evening, Hill was handed the ball in another clutch game: the Cherokee Invitational championship against area rival Etowah.

The Lady Warriors didn’t need Hill to log quite as many innings as she did against White Plains, but she was just as dominant.

Hill struck out the first seven Lady Blue Devils she faced. She allowed just one hit on a bunt single by Maggy Bennett in the bottom of the fourth inning and a walk to pinch hitter Alyssa Scissum in the fifth. Hill finished with 12 strikeouts in the Lady Warriors’ 10-0 victory in five innings.

“I’m trying to work my way back into how I was last season and trying to build off of that,” Hill said. “I couldn’t pitch for about eight months, which was hard, but I gave it enough time to rest.”

And that’s been bad news for the Lady Warriors’ opponents so far this season when she’s been inside the circle.

“When Emma is on she’s on,” Lady Warrior head coach Brad Weaver said. “She doesn’t have many bad days. Today was one of her really good days.”

It was also one of the Lady Warriors’ really good days.

After losing at home in pool play to Glencoe on Friday 4-2, Cherokee County swept through Saturday’s single-elimination bracket at Gaylesville. The Lady Warriors opened the day with a 9-0 win over Spring Garden in a rematch of last week’s Cherokee County Tournament championship game, also won by the Lady Warriors 4-2.

The win over Spring Garden on Saturday set up a semifinal showdown with Valley Head – a 1-0 winner in 10 innings over Cedar Bluff. The Lady Warriors cruised to a 14-2 victory in that contest to clinch a spot in the championship game against Etowah.

Etowah defeated Sand Rock in the other tournament semifinal on Saturday 7-0.

Against Etowah, Cherokee County batters collected 10 hits. The Lady Warriors scored a run in the top of the first inning, then put the game out of reach with four in the fourth and five in the fifth.

Saturday was a far cry from the previous night’s loss to Glencoe, Weaver said.

“Last night we were a different team. Our chemistry for some reason was thrown off,” Weaver said. “We haven’t played like that this year. Maybe us playing like that opened our eyes up for today. That’s what we talked to them about after the game last night. We’ve got to wash this and get it out of our system, find a little more leadership, find a little more urgency. Today they came around.

“The energy in the dugout and the energy on the field was different. When we’ve got the energy going we’re really good.”

Getting that energy going was leadoff hitter Abby Lea. She led off the game with a single to right off Etowah starting pitcher Gabby Pyburn. Lea scored on a single to left by Anna Walker to give Hill all the run support she needed in the circle.

Lea finished the game going 3-for-3. She helped put the exclamation point on the Lady Warrior win with a three-run homer to center field in the top of the fifth.

“Going into the game, we’d never seen their pitcher. It was a little something new,” Lea said. “We adjusted pretty well. We had a good many hits off of her. We scored early, and then Emma came in and shut them down.

“I just knew going up there (to the plate) I was looking for one pitch and one pitch only (inside). When I saw it I was going to hit it pretty hard. That’s just what happened.”

Weaver said Lea is in the Lady Warrior leadoff spot for a reason.

“She sets the tone for us leading off. When she starts off hot, the rest of the lineup gets in there with her. She knows the pressure is on her, but she does well with it,” Weaver said.

And just like Weaver said, the Lady Warriors followed Lea’s lead at the plate.

Lanie Williams went 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk. Raechel Russell and Bristol Bass both had a hit and a RBI apiece. Bass also scored a run.

Hill helped herself at the plate with a hit and a walk. Audrey Haygood had a hit and a run. Grayson Tucker tallied a walk and scored two runs. Macy Lea walked and scored a run. Emma Eberhart scored two runs.

“I think we definitely feed off of each other,” Hill said. “Once one of us does good, it just kind of goes down the line. We just keep going.”

The two teams won’t have long to wait for a rematch. They play each other in Attalla on Monday at 4:30 p.m.