By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Jamiya Turner 
Millington Lady Trojan Mallori Fortune slides into second base during the 2020 season opener against the Fayette-Ware Lady Wildcats in Miles Park.
The Millington Lady Trojans came out with a bang to start the 2020 softball season.
After beating the District 15-2A rival Fayette-Ware Lady Wildcats 17-2 in their debut, the Lady Trojans capped off the opening day doubleheader with a 17-0 victory to improve to 2-0 on the season and in league play.
“It feels good to start anything off 2-0, especially in district,” Lady Trojans Head Coach Whitney Horton said. “We have a pretty tough district. To come in and get the job done one day one I was very happy for the girls and every excited for them. I hope it continues throughout the season.”
Millington scheduled season opener against Collierville was rained out March 9. But the skies cleared enough the following over Miles Park for the two District 15-2A foes to compete.
In the first game, Lady Trojan starter Katilyn McDonald handled the Fayette-Ware lineup to start the campaign off 1-0.
Then it was senior Jamiya Turner’s turn in the circle in game two against the Lady Wildcats. Turner kept the Fayette-Ware lineup scoreless.
Meanwhile the work of assistant coaches Diego Reyes and Mark Healy was on display with the Millington bats. Mallory Howard got the offense started with an inside-the-park home run at leadoff.
The Lady Trojans tallied 5 runs in the first inning being patient and taking advantage of Fayette-Ware miscues.
“I feel like we adjusted better at the plate,” Horton said. “We’re not used to the slower pitching. One time through, the girls adjusted and made harder contact. We made their defense work or put it in the green. We executed the base paths really well tonight.
“We were really aggressive and that’s one thing I wanted them to work on through the season,” she added. “I want them to be more aggressive on the base paths in order to score more runs. And they did that the way they needed to tonight.”
The night continued with a second inning featuring 4 runs by the Lady Trojans. The big blow came courtesy of Turner crushing a double that nearly went out of the part to drive home a pair of runs.
The Lady Trojans iced the game with 7 runs in the third inning. Alexis Jordan transformed a wild pitch, ball four into a triple. Howard followed with a base hit to make the score 11-0.
After a Daphane Fowler infield single, Ally Marona reached on a fielder’s choice and drove in Howard and Fowler.
Later in the frame, Makalia Davenport popped a double to drive in a run. Howard added some extra insurance with a two-run single to make the tally 17-0.
“Anybody on this team, whether it be one through nine who are playing or anybody I pull off the bench is capable of hitting,” Horton said. “We stress hitting each and every single day. I have two people that are on board with me this year who are helping me out tremendously.
I can’t be more thankful more to have two men out there to help me with that,” she concluded. “I am impressed with the way they adjusted. And they will get better with each and every game they play.”
