Seventh-Ranked Troup Downs No. 22 Sabine in 18-2A Softball Action

LIBERTY CITY -- In a battle between state ranked teams and district foes, the No. 7 Troup Lady Tigers overpowered the No. 22 Sabine Lady Cardinals 9-2 on Tuesday.

Troup (22-4-2, 8-0) moved into sole possession of first place in District 18-2A with the win.

Josee Ross threw a complete game with seven strikeouts, shutting out Sabine over the final six innings after yielding two unearned runs in the first. She also went 2-for-2 from the plate with two RBI singles.

"(Ross) is one of the hardest workers a coach could ask for," said Troup coach Samantha Weeks. "She is an ideal player. She does whatever you ask her to do, whenever you ask her to do it and there's no question about it. She works as hard as anybody could imagine. And it shows because when she gets in those situations, she pushes through it. She's definitely harder on herself than anyone."

Ross jump-started the scoring with an RBI single in the first, followed by a LeAnn Lloyd RBI single that gave Troup an early 2-0 lead.

Troup pushed across two more in the second on consecutive RBI doubles by Caitlin Tomlin and Katelyn Standley.

Sabine loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but Emily Ivins grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the threat.

Troup plated five more runs in the top of the seventh. Ross started with an RBI single, followed by a Miranda Flora two-RBI single and a Jordan Lynn two-run double.

"This win allows us some room as district winds down," Weeks said. "That is really important to my girls. We started a tradition last year winning district solo for the first time in school history, and they want to maintain that."

Sabine (6-2 in district) scored two runs in the bottom of the first on an error.

Troup plays host to Harmony on Thursday, while Sabine is at West Rusk.