Lady Bucks Open Season With Three Wins in Four Games
by Mike McGee [Photos]
After a couple of false starts due to inclement weather, the Motlow Lady Bucks finally got their season under way with a pair of double headers against Joliette, Ill. Sunday and Monday, and they came away with a 3-1 record.

This edition of the Lady Bucks is coach Gary Barfield's youngest squad ever with only two sophomores on board--shortstop Megan Hemmingsen and former Tullahoma Lady Wildcat Amanda Duke who transferred to Motlow this season from Volunteer State. The rest of the squad is made up of freshmen who played their first college games this week.

Motlow welcomes Kaskaskia, Ill. Wednesday and Thursday for double-headers starting at 1 p.m. each day. Admission is free.


Sunday's Games
Lady Bucks 8 Joliette 2
Former Coffee County Lady Raider Kasie Meeks started her college career in style with a 13-strike-out, four- hit gem that included no earned runs. Amanda Duke pounded a monster home run, and former Tullahoma teammate Ashley Fingers had a triple. Lebanon freshman Missy Roberts led the Lady Bucks' 12-hit attack with three hits, and Riverdale's Kelsey Woodruff, Lincoln County's Sloane Brooks, Duke and Fingers added two hits apiece. Megan Hemmingson, a Clarksville sophomore, had a hit and two RBI. Woodruff also drove in two runs.

Lady Bucks 9 Joliette 5
Megan Hemmingsen had a pair of homers, and Columbia's Kayla Cole had one to lead Motlow's 12-hit attack. Sloane Brooks, Smyrna's Brittney Harrell, Cole and Hemmingsen had two hits apiece, and Kelsey Woodruff had an RBI double.

Amanda Duke pitched the final five innings and picked up the win with a seven-strike-out, three hit performance.

Monday's Games
Lady Bucks 5 Joliette 1
Kasie Meeks (2-0) had her second straight strong start on the mound, going the distance while striking out six and scattering six hits. Megan Hemmingsen homered, and Amanda Duke and Missy Roberts drove in runs to spark the Lady Buck attack.

Joliette 5 Lady Bucks 4 (8 innings)
Joliette got into the win column by holding off a Lady Buck rally in the bottom of the eighth inning. Megan Hemmingsen had an eighth inning single, and Amanda Duke ripped a double to the fence to put runners on second and third with two outs, but the Lady Bucks weren't able to push the run across. Hemmingsen also had her fourth homer in four games earlier in the contest. She and Duke both had a pair of hits in the game, and Sloane Brookes had a triple and two RBI.

Kokomo, Ind. product Lindsay Clark went the distance on the mound for the Lady Bucks