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VIQUEENS MAKE HISTORY

Community upsets Bledsoe Co. in 2A sectional for 1st ever state tourney

By CHRIS SIERS ~ sports@t-g.com
Posted 5/22/22

PIKEVILLE — For the first time in school history, the Community Viqueens are headed to the state softball tournament. Facing the daunting task of playing at Bledsoe County (30-1) with the …

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VIQUEENS MAKE HISTORY

Community upsets Bledsoe Co. in 2A sectional for 1st ever state tourney

Posted

PIKEVILLE — For the first time in school history, the Community Viqueens are headed to the state softball tournament.
Facing the daunting task of playing at Bledsoe County (30-1) with the season on the line, the Viqueens relied on the steady arm of freshman pitcher Tayler Wessner and some timely hitting and base running by Abbi Murrill as Community held on for the 1-0 win over the Lady Warriors on Saturday evening.
“I could believe the work my kids put in. We set goals and not always can you go down a list and check off goals that you set. I’m just proud of those girls and their parents and how everyone worked. It’s been a heck of a group,” Viqueen coach Cam Farrell said.
For five innings, on Saturday, the Viqueens caught themselves in a scoreless battle that was a fantastic pitcher’s duel between Wessner and Bledsoe County’s Ella Baker.
It wasn’t until Abby Murrill connected on a two-out double in the top of the sixth and then was driven home by Zoey Dixon for the game’s only run.
Murrill kept up her stellar postseason at the plate and went 2-for-3 against Bledsoe County in Saturday’s sectional match up.
“She (Murrill) is just a phenomenal athlete. She wants to work hard. She’s a kid who stays late, comes early and always asking for someone to work with her,” Farrell said.
While Murrill provided the timely hitting and effectiveness on the base paths, it was Wessner’s efforts in the pitcher’s circle that kept the Lady Warriors whiffing at the plate.
She went the distance and scattered four hits over the seven innings, while striking out five.
“She’s a freshman. Every game she’s pitched in I’ve never seen any kind of worry or nerves. She’s got ice in her veins and she goes at it 100%. She wants to be the field general and she’s comfortable,” Farrell said.
Following Saturday’s win, the TSSAA released the brackets for the state tournament and the Viqueens got the tough draw of facing state power Summertown (36-9) in the opening round on Tuesday.
“We’re going to have to do everything right. We’re going to have to stay out of the error bracket, hit our spots and we’re going to have to hit the ball. They have super tough pitching. We have to be ready to go and we cannot make mistakes. We have to be able to work through stuff,” Farrell said.
While the Viqueens don’t begin their state tournament run until Tuesday night, Farrell says everything started clicking for the Viqueens once they got to the district tournament.
“The kids were very big on the fact we’ve had goals. They wanted to see those goals. I had other kids tell others to not forget on what we planned on doing. When I started seeing that and the “want-to” it was like they wanted to work even harder in practice,” he said.
“Everybody is just doing their part. They don’t accept anything less than giving all they have.”
First pitch between Community and Summertown is slated for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday evening at the Starplex No. 1 field in Murfreesboro.

Community 000 001 0 — 1 3 1
Bledsoe Co. 000 000 0 — 0 4 0

Community: Abby Murrill 2-for-3, Zoey Dixon 1-for-3.
2B: Murrill, Dixon

WP: Wessner
LP: Baker