Henry Daily Herald

After Dutchtown pitcher Kierra Scott gave up a triple to Eagle’s Landing in the top of the sixth inning that gave the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead, she walked off the pitcher’s mound toward the dugout visibly frustrated.

“When she gave up the triple, she had her head down a bit,” said Dutchtown coach Sam Coley. “I just told her they only had one run, and we only needed to get one and then she came through for us.”

The junior pitcher had six strikeouts and gave up just three hits in Dutchtown’s 2-1 win over Eagle’s Landing, but she may have been more heroic from the batters box.

She redeemed herself from the earlier miscue by smashing a home run to straightway center field to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth.

Then in the top of the seventh, Scott would retire three straight batters to set up sophomore Carey Smith’s double and junior Haley Freshwater’s game winning RBI in the bottom of the seventh.

The strong play from Scott was nothing new to Coley. And he said it wouldn’t be farfetched to see Scott playing softball at the next level when her days at Dutchtown are done.

“Kierra’s impact on this team has been tremendous,” Coley said. “To me, she has the talent to be a Division I softball player. She’s strong and she understands the game. She’s been outstanding and she’s just a great kid.”

With this being the next to last game before next week’s regional tournament begins — Dutchtown will play Upson-Lee in a make-up game on Thursday — Coley said this kind of high-drama defensive tussle was just what his Bulldogs wanted.

“That’s probably the best game we played all year,” he said. “We feel good about this. I felt like this is the type of game we need going into the tournament.”

The win puts Dutchtown (11-3, 6-3) in a tie with Eagle’s Landing for third place in region 4-AAAA, two games behind Locust Grove and three back from Woodland which is a perfect 9-0 in region play.

Coley said he expects Upson-Lee to provide a formidable challenge, but believes his Bulldogs will remain in good shape if they can stay light and focused.

“These girls just love each other,” he said. “They love talking to each other. They just love to have fun. We’re having a lot of fun playing right now. So we’ll see how it all works out next week.”