In a 7 inning two-hit shutout, Trenton High School junior Ainsley Tolson struck out 20 batters, as THS pulled away from a tight low-scoring contest in the final two innings for a 14-0 Grand River Conference victory at Gerald Gentry Field in Princeton.
Princeton, with right-hander Payton Goodin relying on keeping Trenton’s bats off balance, and bolstered by a flurry of fantastic plays by her defense, kept the game close, with the Lady Bulldogs clinging to a 1-0 lead headed into the top of the 6th inning. In the 3rd inning, junior Taylor Richman drove in courtesy runner Kennedy Norton with a run-scoring double.
The visitors were able to get some breathing room in the sixth, with freshman Maci Moore cracking a two-run double, scoring Richman and Sidney Lynch. Three batters later, a Tolson three-run homer had turned a close game into a 6-0 advantage. A Mykah Hurley triple, a walk to Salem Croy, and two-run double by Richman pushed the lead to 8-0. Richman’s hit was followed by a walk to Croy, with an RBI single by Sidney Lynch pushing the advantage to 9-0. Five more runs in the top of the 7th pushed the final tally to 14-0 in favor of Trenton, now 5-1 on the season and a perfect 2-0 in the Grand River Conference.
Princeton, despite showing improvement and a strong level of competitiveness in the early portion of the season, falls to 2-3 overall, with a three-game losing skid, and 0-2 mark in the GRC.
For Trenton, in the Thursday night victory, Taylor Richman had a career night with a 4 for 5 outing, including three doubles, with 4 RBI’s. Hurley, Tolson, and Moore each had two hits. Princeton’s strongest threat to even, or potentially take the lead in the contest, came in the home side of the 4th inning, as the Lady Tigers had two runners on base with no outs. Tolson struck out the side to retire the Tigers.
Coach John Cowling, speaking about Tolson’s superb effort, recalled Ainsley’s perfect game in last year’s district title win over Lexington, saying, “Ainsley found a groove tonight and had everything going. She was special this evening!”
Trenton travels to Hamilton on Monday to play the rival Lady Hornets in a 5 o’clock contest on Hot Country Z 101.7. Princeton will play three games on Saturday in the Bill Hill Tournament in Albany, opening with a date against GRC rival Gallatin at 8:30 in the morning. The Lady Tigers have the #6 seed in the 8-team field.
