Emory Hall connects on a base hit for Forrest against Alcoa. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
Ella Chilton puts the squeeze on a throw to first for the out. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
By CHRIS SIERS
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
MURFREESBORO— After falling by a single run to Alcoa in the 2025 Class 2A state opener, the Forrest Lady Rockets found themselves in a win-or-go-home situation progressing through the remainder of the tournament.
After falling to Alcoa, Forrest responded and beat Milan, 8-1 to put a cap on the first day of the tournament.
On the second day, the Lady Rockets continued their hot run and crushed Watertown 11-1 to advance but fell to Alcoa for a second time in as many days, 7-0.
Against Watertown, it was a steady trickle of offense until the bats got scorching hot.
In the top of the third, starting pitcher Taylor Moreland called her own number and connected on a two-out RBI single to right to put Forrest on the board.
It wasn’t until the fifth and sixth innings that
Forrest poured on the offense to pull away from Watertown.
In the four-run fifth, the Lady Rockets took advantage of a walk and a pair of Purple Tiger errors and made the most of their time at the plate.
Maddy Ille singled home a pair of runs in the inning and Moreland and Ella Chilton each connected on extra base hits
Maddy Ille scoops up a one-hopper at short stop and makes the throw to first for the out. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
.
Chilton’s double to left plated one run and by the end of the fifth, Forrest’s lead jumped to 5-0.
In the sixth, the Lady Rockets got three straight RBI singles fromHailee Warren, Ille and Moreland before Ella Chilton stepped to the plate and mashed a two- run blast to left.
Ille, Moreland and Chilton each drove in three runs in the win and as a team, the Lady Rockets belted out nine hits.
Moreland tossed a strong game in the circle, going the distance and striking out four, while allowing one unearned run on three hits.
Forrest 001 046 — 11 9 1
Watertown 000 001 — 1 3 3
Forrest: Maddy Ille 2-for-4, Taylor Moreland 3-for-4, Ella Chilton 2-for-3, Marley Chilton 1-for-2, Hailee Warren 1-for-2.
WP: Moreland
ALCOA 7, FORREST 0
While Forrest was able to minimize the damage by Alcoa through the first few innings in their second meeting, a disastrous third frame was more than Forrest could recover from as the Lady Rockets saw their season come to a close with a 7-0 loss.
Alcoa got a single run against Forrest in each of the first two innings, but put the game out of reach with a five-run third.
Alcoa got a pair of RBI singles and a base-clearing double to reach the final margin of victory.
Alcoa limited Forrest to just three hits, two of which came from Emory Hall.
Marley Chilton connected on the other single.
Forrest 000 000 0 — 0 3 0
Alcoa 115 000 x — 7 8 0
Forrest: Emory Hall 2-for-3, Marley Chilton 1-for-3.
WP: Burkhart
LP: Morelan
