Newcomer Olivia Elkhill Paces Offense With Grand Slam Among Four Hits

It's a brand new year and a whole bunch of new faces, but the goal never changes for the Baylor Lady Red Raider softball team.

Baylor has been on quite a role in recent years as they have won nine straight D-II-AA state championships.  But this is a different situation completely as Baylor graduated six seniors last spring, including five who were multi-year starters.  Add two more underclassmen who are not playing for various reasons and you see that veteran coach Kelli Smith has her work cut out for her as she really is going through a rebuilding process.

But 10 days into the new season, the winning continues.  Baylor made it three straight without a defeat on Wednesday afternoon at home with a resounding 15-0 victory over the McMinn County Cherokees.

Life doesn't get any easier for the Baylor girls as they take a road trip for a doubleheader at Gibbs on Thursday before coming back and taking part in the Tiger Classic in Athens, hosted by Meigs County.

Smith knows that this year is totally different from any she's had in the past as she has a bunch of big holes to fill.  She's happy with the daily improvement that they're making and is confident they will be a much better team as the season progresses and they head toward late May and the post-season.

"We got some timely hits as we finally started swinging the bats.  I'm especially pleased with Rylee Jasper, who had battled a migraine early in the day, but came out and had great command of her pitches in her first start.  And I was really happy with Olivia Elkhill, another new starter, who had four hits in our leadoff spot and really put the icing on the cake with that grand slam in the fourth," Smith said with pride.

"Amiya Leach also gave us a lift with her home run in the third, but today was a total team effort.  We still have a long way to go, but I like their approach and their attitude.  We go to Gibbs tomorrow and that's always a challenge as they normally have an outstanding team.  Then we come back for a big tournament in Athens, but we're just trying to get better every day and that's what I'm most happy about," she added.

Sophomore right-hander Rylee Jasper got her first start and made the most of it as she allowed no runs on just one hit while walking none and recording seven strikeouts.

Jasper recorded two quick outs in the first before Addie Miller ripped a double down the line in left.  Second base was where she stayed as Jasper got her second strikeout of the inning to prevent any further damage.

She retired the last 10 hitters she faced, but appeared to be happy and not the least bit nervous after all was said and done.

"This was my first start and I'm really happy with how it turned out, but I had all the confidence in the world in my teammates, both on offense and defense.  I couldn't do it without all the offensive support and my defense played well too," she added.

Baylor didn't waste any time as they had three hits in the first inning when they scored the first three runs.  The Cherokees also helped with a couple of errors, but the Lady Red Raiders took advantage of their opportunities and took the lead almost immediately.

Elkhill led off with a single and stole second before scoring the first run on a single by Xahara Willis.  Adison Wellington added a single and later scored the third run.

Elkhill singled again in the second and stole another base, but was stranded at second when Jasper popped to second for the third out.

Amiya Leach made it 5-0 with a two-run homer in the third, following a one-out single by Wellington.

Then the wheels totally fell off for the Cherokees in the fourth when Baylor sent 13 hitters to the plate and scored the final 10 runs, Willis driving in two with two hits while Leach also had a two-run double.  Elkhill's grandslam extended the lead to 14-0 before Jasper reached on another McMinn error.  Willis then doubled for her second hit of the inning as courtesy runner Eden Atkinson scored to end the game.

While Elkhill had a big day with her four hits, three runs scored and four RBIs, Willis was also productive with her three hits, two runs and three runs driven in.

Wellington and Leach both had two hits as the Lady Raiders finished with 13 for the day.

Bailey Derrick was saddled with the loss after allowing all 15 runs while walking two and striking out one.

McMinn County is now 1-6 following Wednesday's loss.

McMINN CO.  000 0 – 0 1 5

BAYLOR  302 (10) – 15 13 0

Derrick and Prince; Jasper and Willis.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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