The regular season is drawing to a conclusion and the District 5-AAA softball tournament is just around the corner. The Lady Raiders continued to prep for their tournament appearance Friday with a 6-1 win over the visiting Red Bank Lady Lions.

“A win is a win. Another win on our home field is always nice. It builds confidence and they need it right now, especially going into the district tournament. It would be nice to win on Monday (against CSAS) and use that momentum as we go into the tournament,” Stobert said as the Lady Raiders took care of field maintenance.

Cleveland coach Connie Stobert gave her No. 1 starter, Yoshi Hooks, the day off and went instead with Carly Frost. The freshman lefty did not disappoint in the complete-game win, booking 10 strikeouts.

Frost was a bit rusty in the early going and spent the first couple of innings finding her groove. The Lady Lions (8-14) managed eight hits in the game including a sixth-inning Ally Walker home run as the only run allowed by Frost.

“She (Hooks) has pitched quite a few games for us. Frosty hasn't pitched in a while. It was good to get her in and get her some repetition as well. She is our No. 2 and we're going to need her come district time. It gave her some good practice, and it gave Yoshi some rest. She did a great job. She had 10 strikeouts. She was a little rusty there at the beginning because she hasn't pitched in a while. It has been quite a few days since she has seen the mound. But, she did a great job.”

The Lady Raiders (12-17) banged out nine hits including an inside-the-park home run by Hooks.

Cleveland jumped on the board first in the bottom of the first with two runs. Jacora Parker walked and later scored on an infield single by Brittany Arnold, who later came home on a Jasmine Martin single, the third of the inning, to center field. Nanae Haruo provided the second hit for Cleveland.

Back-to-back singles by Hooks and Parker, combined with two Red Bank errors put Cleveland on top 3-0 in the second. Haruo doubled deep to left in the third but was left stranded.

In the fourth, the Lady Raiders tacked on one more run when Frost beat out an infield hit and later scored on another Lady Lions miscue.

Red Bank made it 4-1 with a homer in the top of the fourth, but Cleveland came right back to make the run up and add one more.

Karli Bledsoe hustled to first for an infield hit and scored when Hooks lashed a scorching single just inside the bag at first that rolled to the right field fence. Hooks rounded third as the ball reached the cutoff and slid safely into home to make it 6-1.

The Lady Lions picked up two singles in the seventh before Frost cooled the mini rally with a strikeout to end the game.

“We had some good, quality hits. That is what we have been focusing on, quality contact with the ball. They did that today. The hits were timely, at the right moment. We did leave a few runners on base. But, the girls did a good job hitting. Having to switch from a faster pitcher like we saw at Walker Valley to a little slower pitcher is sometimes a hard adjustment for them. They adjusted pretty well,” said Stobert.

LADY RAIDERS 6, LADY LIONS 1

Red Bank 000 001 0 — 1 8 5

Cleveland 210 102 x — 6 10 3

WP: Carly Frost. LP: Ally Walker. HR: Walker (RB), Hooks (C). 2B: Bri Whitlock (RB), Nanea Haruo ( C). Highlights: Autumn Babb 2-4, Abby Murray 2-3 (RB); Hooks 3-4, Haruo 2-3 (C). Records: Red Bank 8-14; Cleveland 12-17.