Carter leads Cascade to 2nd shutout

Cascade's Lady Champions put together their second straight shutout to open up the 2010 season by defeating non-district visitor Richland 3-0 on Thursday night.

Cascade starting pitcher Leigha Carter retired 10 of the first 11 batters and went all seven innings of the bump to notch her second victory. She had an air-tight defense behind her that played error-free.

"You've got to be happy with that," Cascade coach Ralph Edwards said. "Leigha's throwing the great; she's got all her pitches working for her. She's not going to overpower anybody, but she can keep them off-balance. She's pretty tough to hit.

"I'm pleased with the way she's pitching, and the way we're playing defense."

The defensive performance came, oddly enough, with a very different lineup in the field from the season opener due to a thumb injury to starting catcher Sara Elizabeth Edwards. Carter was the only player in the dirt that was in the same position as Monday night's victory over Community.

"That's one good thing about this team. We've got girls that can play several positions without a big drop-off. The competition I've got going amongst my players is making us better," Edwards said.

Tori Slater and Kelsey Parker opened the bottom of the first for Cascade with a single each. Katie Lynch made it three straight knocks with a run-scoring single to plate Slater.

With two down in the bottom of the sixth, Cari Brown roped a two-run single through the 3-4 hole to plate Lynch and Alyssa Hoover with two insurance runs.

Brown and Lynch both had three hits. Hoover and Slater added two hits each.

Carter finished with nine strikeouts and didn't walk a batter.

The Lady Champs welcome Grundy County to Wartrace on Monday afternoon at 1:30.