NTL SOFTBALL: ATHENS STRIKES EARLY; TOPS SAYRE, 11-1, IN FIVE INNINGS (20 PHOTOS) (2025-04-03)
Valley Sports ReportATHENS — Athens took a commanding lead early, and cruised to an 11-1 five-inning win over Sayre here Thursday afternoon in NTL softball action.
"It was a good day of softball for the girls against a Valley rival," said Athens coach Brian Wendela. "We haven’t played a game in a week and we been battling some girls being sick, and now our seniors are all on their Senior trip, so we had a lot of unanswered questions.
"It was very nice to see some of the underclassmen step in and play some solid innings offensively and defensively," he noted. "They have been working hard and we got a glimpse of what they have to offer when given a chance. I’m hoping that experience they got today will help us grow as a team and make us stronger moving forward.
"We were talking about being disciplined at the plate and being patient and I thought we had some nice at-bats where we didn’t try to do too much and choose to put the ball in play hard!
"Defensively we were sound, and mixed well with some good pitching," added Wendela. :We knew Sayre was going to put the ball in play with a few girls and we just needed to stay focused. I pleased to see us come together and play solid as a group and have each others back."
Sayre coach Zach Senese believes his team is improving.
"Athens is a quality team, with a solid pitcher that we couldn't touch up much," he said. "We got some good quality at-bats, scraped with some good base-running and didn't get shut out.
"The girls are starting to play with a better IQ on defense overall," said Senese. "We are still preaching the positives and learning from the mistakes."
Athens scored five runs in the home half of the first inning in a rally that included a two-run double by senior Jules Pack, and an RBI double by freshman Andy Davis.
The Wildcats added four more runs in the second, with an RBI double by freshman Memphis Paul, and an RBI single by Davis the key hits.
Athens sophomore Gretchan Hiley struck out the first six batters she faced. Sayre senior Mercedez Haggerty led off the third inning with a single.
The Redskins got on the board in the top of the fourth on a two-out RBI single by sophomore Mikyah Brown that scored senior Raegan Parrish, who reached on a one-out single.
Davis lined an RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth inning to give Athens a 10-1 lead, and Gretchan Hiley ended the game via the 10-run rule with an RBI single to make it 11-1 in the home half of the sixth inning.
Gretchan Hiley earned the win for the Wildcats, allowing one run on three hits, while striking out 12 and walking one in six innings.
Davis had three hits, including a double, one run scored, and three RBI, and Gretchan Hiley stroked three singles, scored two runs, and drove in one run to pace Athens' 13-hit attack.
Junior Maddie Hiley doubled and singled, scored two runs and drove in one run in the win, while Paul doubled twice, scored three runs, and knocked in one run, Pack singled, scored one run, and drove in two runs, junior Savannah Finan singled and scored one run, and junior Danica May crossed the plate once.
Brown singled and knocked in one run, while Raegan Parrish singled and scored one run, Haggerty singled to account for Sayre's three hits.
Sophomore Zoey Ward was tagged with the loss, allowing 11 runs — seven earned — on 13 hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Athens, now 5-0, hosts Williamson Tuesday, while Sayre hosts Sullivan County Saturday at 11 a.m.
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PHOTOS BY BECKY FASSETT.
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