Marshall County Post

12A —Marshall County Post, Thursday, April 11, 2024 Ferguson’s blasts lead Forrest past Community By CHRIS SIERS csiers@ bedfordcountypost.com C HAPEL HILL — Have a night, Abby Ferguson. The Lady Rocket senior center fi elder blasted two home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in a stagger- ing seven RBIs as For- rest crushed Commu- nity 12-3 in a key District 9-AA battle of unbeat- ens. Entering Thursday night’s clash at the Field of Dreams, both Com- munity and Forrest sported an unbeaten dis- trict record. While the two teams met six times a season ago, including for a Dis- trict 7-AA champion- ship, Region 4-AA cham- pionship and in the Class 2A state tournament, there’s plenty of famil- iarity between the two programs. On Thursday, Fergu- son made sure the Lady Rockets would take con- trol of the district stand- ings. After Maggie Daughrity reached via dropped third strike in the bottom of the fi rst, Ferguson stepped to the plate and after an eight- pitch battle, launched her fi rst homer over the center fi eld fence for the early 2-0 lead. Community got one run back in the top of the third on an error in the Lady Rocket in fi eld, only to see Forrest respond with an eight-spot in the bottom of the third. Taylor Moreland and Emory Hall both con- nected on RBI singles, but it was Ferguson again who fl exed her might and launched a grand slam for the big- gest hit of the night. In the top of the fourth, Gracie Daniel added another run for the Viqueens on a RBI double and McKenzie Tucker drove in another run when she ground out to fi rst. Forrest closed the game with two more runs in the bottom of the fi fth. Ferguson’s two-home run, seven-RBI night was the highlight for the Lady Rockets. Briley Burnhan went 3-for-4 as well. Taylor Moreland went the distance for Forrest and gave up just three runs on four hits with four strikeouts. Community 001 200 0 — 3 4 1 Forrest 208 020 x — 12 10 4 Forrest: Maggie Daughrity 1-for-3, Abby Ferguson 2-for-3, Christa Warren 1-for-3, Briley Burnhan 3-for-4, Taylor Moreland 1-for-4, Emory Hall 2-for-4. WP: Moreland LP: Prince The Lady Rockets wait for Abby Ferugson to celebrate her two-run, first inning home run on Thursday night. –Post Photo by Chris Siers Rockets pull away for district win over Vikings By RICKEY CLARDY Sports Writer UNIONVILLE —The For- rest Rockets held a 1-goal lead at the half over the Community Vikings before two second-half goals gave the Rockets some breathing room as Forrest shut out the Vikings 3-0 in a Dis- trict 9-A soccer match Thurs- day night. It was a match pitting the physical play of the Rockets versus the fi nesse of the Vi- kings as the two teams battled to gain the upper hand. Both teams had chances at goals in the opening 10 min- utes before the Rockets used a relentless o ff ensive attack to pepper shots at the Viking goal for the rest of the half. With Community goalie Reily Anica stopping several Rocket shots from close range, the game remained scoreless before Matheus Bretanha took a rebound o ff a miss and found the back of the net with 24:22 remaining in the fi rst half to give Forrest a 1-0 lead. The rest of the Rocket at- tempts for the remainder of the half were o ff the mark while the Vikings came close to tying the match as a cross in front of the Forrest net barely missed as the Rockets took their lead into the intermission. With the change of ends to start the second half, the Vi- kings used a strong northerly wind to move the ball out of their own zone. But Rocket goalie Landon Groeneveld was up to the task of keeping the Vikings o ff the scoreboard. The Rockets found a bit of a break with 26:40 remaining in the half as a penalty kick gave Forrest a chance to improve its advantage. On the kick by Damian Hames, the ball rebounded o ff the goalie but still went over the goal line as the Rockets in- creased their lead to 2-0. The Rockets added an in- surance goal with 8:32 remain- ing as Juan Bosco Valdivieso took the ball after it bounced over the goalie and followed it into the open net to give For- rest its fi nal goal of the night. Forrest 1 2 - 3 Community 0 0 - 0 First Half F — Matheus Bretanha goal (24:22) Second Half F — Damian Hames penalty kick (26:40) F — Juan Bosco Valdivieso goal (8:32) ON THE MOUND Peyton Cherry of the Bulldogs delivers a pitch during Corners- ville’s 11-3 loss to the Community Vikings Fri- day night. –Post Photo by Rickey Clardy Juan Bosco Valdivieso kicks the ball upfield for the Rockets. Valdivieso had a goal in the Forrest win. –Post Photo by Rickey Clardy Advertise today! Marshall County Post Call 931-246-6436