BELL BUCKLE — After surrendering six runs in the opening frame on Tuesday night, the Cascade Lady Champions tightened up defensively and found their rhythm at the plate to battle back for a 10-7 victory over the Nashville Lady Knights. 
Lady Champion pitcher Brianna Horn replaced Katelyn Lambert in the pitcher’s circle to start the second inning and kept Nashville at bay by allowing only one run on four hits for the rest of the game, while striking out 13 batters in the process. 
“When she’s focused in, she’s really tough,” Lady Champs head coach Willie Carter said. “We just have to keep her focused when she’s on the mound, and we’re tough to beat on any night.”
Cascade (5-5) entered the bottom of the sixth inning trailing 7-6 with the middle of their lineup coming up to bat for a chance to complete the comeback. 
Christina Bilbro knocked a leadoff single to open the half inning, and scored on the next at-bat with Hannah Vandiver blasting a double to the right-field fence to tie the game at 7-7. 
Vandiver was a single shy of hitting for the cycle as she notched an RBI triple in her first at-bat and a two-run homer in her second to total a game-high four RBIs and a perfect 3-for-3 on the night. 
The Lady Champions scored three more runs in the inning with a sacrifice bunt from Caitlin Fannin to score Vandiver and a two-run homer off the bat of Horn two at-bats later for a 10-7 lead moving to the seventh inning. 
Horn walked the Lady Knights’ leadoff batter in the top of the seventh before the Lady Champions recorded three consecutive outs to secure the win. 
After the Lady Knights took their 6-0 lead in the first inning, Carter sent a message to his team to focus on the task at hand and win the game. 
“I told the girls right after the top of the first inning that we didn’t come focused and ready to play,” Carter said.
“Finally, they focused in, and we found a way to score 10 runs and win the game. That’s what it boils down to.”
The Lady Champions answered his call with three runs in the bottom of the first inning to chip away at their deficit. 
Ella Thompson hit a leadoff single to kickstart the inning for Cascade, and it was soon a 6-2 game after Bilbro doubled to score Thompson, and Vandiver followed it up with her RBI triple. 
Vandiver scored on a fielder’s choice in the next at-bat to make it 6-3 after the first inning. 
Her two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning left them with a 6-5 deficit, but the Lady Knights scraped a run across on an error in the top of the fourth to regain a two-run advantage. 
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Lady Champions made it a one-run game once more on a dribbler to first base by Alivia Fannin to score Vandiver from second. 
Carter and assistant coach Janie Demonbreum emphasized making adjustments in the box to their squad throughout the game, and they did just that for the comeback win. 
“Coach Deomnbreum and I try to prepare them for the timing of the opposing pitcher, so they can make adjustments in the box – when to swing and when not to swing,” Carter said. “They started making some adjustments and started hitting the ball well.”
The Lady Champions will have a couple days off before they embark on a loaded District 7-AA schedule next week with the first of the three coming on Monday against the Grundy County Lady Yellow Jackets. 
Cascade defeated Grundy County 14-6 earlier in the season. 
“Next week we have three district games that are really important, and we’re going to make some adjustments before then to give us a better chance,” Carter said. “We’ll have a couple days off to heal up some injuries and be ready to go for the district games coming up.”

Nashville 600 100 0 — 7 10 1
Cascade 320 104 x — 10 9 2

Cascade: Hannah Vandiver 3-for-3, Christina Bilbro 2-for-3, Alivia Fannin 1-for-2, Kloey Carter 1-for-2, Brianna Horn 1-for-3, Ella Thompson 1-for-5.

WP: Horn