SHE”S PERFECT: Lady Wildcat Chelsea Jones Hurls Perfect Game
by Mike McGee [Photos]
Chelsea Jones
  Tullahoma Lady Wildcat senior Chelsea Jones has established herself as one of the midstate’s top pitchers and has turned in many outstanding performances over the years. Thursday night against the Franklin County Rebelettes, Jones took it to another level. She was…well…perfect.
  Jones hurled a perfect game, striking out 15 while facing the minimum number of batters for a seven-inning game—21. A perfect game is much more rare than a no-hitter since the pitcher not only has to allow no hits but also cannot allow a runner to reach base by any means, including walks and errors, which means the defense behind her shares in the feat.
  The Lady Wildcat defense had an easy time of it Thursday with only one real threat to the perfect game, and sophomore second baseman Meghan Brayton took care of that when she leaped high and snagged a line drive. Jones struck out 12 of the last 13 batters she faced.
  The Lady Cats got Jones all the runs she would need in the first inning when Renea Shirley came through with a bases-loaded single to plate two runs. They would add two more in the second inning when Whitney Scott led off with a single and scored on Brayton’s single. The Lady Cats added another run on an error to make it 4-0.
Kayla Rzeczycki fires across the diamond to Sarah Binion to retire a Franklin County Rebelette batter.

  Tullahoma loaded the bases in the fifth but didn’t add to the run total, but the Lady Cats put another one on the board in the sixth when Brayton singled, and Erica Duke lined an RBI double to right.
  There wasn’t much for coach David Cardwell to be unhappy about as he saw his team move to 7-0 in district play and take a two-game lead over the rest of the field. He did, however, caution his offense about losing focus and depending too much on Jones’ pitching when they take an early lead like they did Thursday.
  The Lady Cats are scheduled to take part in the Lincoln County Border Battle Friday and Saturday. Cardwell will be forced to come up with some unique lineups along the way due to players being absent for the ACT Saturday morning and the Miss Tullahoma pageant Saturday night.

Standings
Tullahoma 7-0
Lawrence County 5-2
Shelbyville 4-2
Columbia 3-4
Coffee County 3-4
Lincoln County 2-6
Franklin County 1-7