Tedder leads Lady Jags to rout

Mary Katherine Tedder was the star of the show on Monday night, as Spain Park softball routed Tuscaloosa County, 11-1, in six innings.

The Texas commit got things started in the bottom of the first inning, as she crushed a ball to left-center field that left the ballpark in a hurry. The two-run shot gave the Lady Jags an early 2-0 edge.

“She’s a stud,” Spain Park head coach C.J. Hawkins said. “She’s been on varsity since 7th grade.”

In the second, Spain Park (6-3) loaded the bases for leadoff hitter Kynadi Tipler. She laced a ball to right-center, scoring two runs and doubling to make the score 4-0.

“I knew I was going to watch my first strike,” Tipler said. “I got my first strike, and the second pitch was outside. I’ve been practicing hitting outside pitches to right field. When I got that pitch, I knew I could hit it well.”

Tedder hit a grand slam to double up the score in the bottom of the fourth, with a blast to deep left-center again to make the score 8-0. She finished the game with a pair of homers and six runs batted in.

“My mindset is if she’s going to throw it in there, then I’m going to bust it,” Tedder said. “If she throws it in there, then I just swing as hard as I can. If it goes, it goes.”

She said it felt good to have a great game, but that “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”

The bombs were Tedder’s fourth and fifth of the young season. She also walked and scored three runs.

Freshman Bailey Bowers put the icing on the cake with a bases-clearing double in the sixth inning to put Spain Park up 11-1, activating the run rule.

Fellow freshman Caroline Kendrick was outstanding on the mound, going the distance for the Lady Jags. In her six innings, she surrendered just three hits and an unearned run while striking out two.

“Caroline did a great job,” Hawkins said.

A Spain Park error in the fifth inning allowed in Tuscaloosa County’s lone run of the contest.

Spain Park returns to the diamond again on Tuesday, at Oak Mountain at 5:30 p.m.