GOOD HOPE – Good Hope took on Priceville in a Class 4A game on Tuesday. The Lady Raiders had a four-run lead going into the fifth, but Priceville's bats came to life in the final three innings, and Good Hope wound up losing the game, 10-9.
The Lady Raiders struck first in their opening at-bats. Skylar Tucker reached on a one-out error by Abby Garrison and moved to second on the throw. She moved to third on a balk by Madison Beddingfield. Tankersley hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Tucker to give Good Hope a 1-0 lead. Consecutive singles by Josie McDonald and Sidnie English had the Lady Raiders looking for some more runs, but Alex Stansell went down looking to end the inning. The Lady Bulldogs looked to counter in the top of the second. Hannah Wheeler walked on four straight pitches and Reagan Walter got hit on the first pitch to put runners on first and second with no one out. But Sara Beth Wilson hit a ground ball to Erika Woodall, who stepped on third and then threw to McDonald at first to get the double play. Mykale Lowe got Beddingfield to ground out to Tucker at short to get out of the inning.
Good Hope looked to increase their lead in their half. A walk, an error and another walk loaded the bases with nobody out for Woodall, but she popped out to first baseman Destinee Hargrove. Back-to-back RBI singles by Tucker and Derekia Tankersley increased the Lady Raider lead to 3-0. Garrison got hit by the pitch to lead off the third for Priceville. Makenna Henderson reached on a fielder's choice, then Hargrove reached on an infield hit. On the first pitch, Abby Hensley lined a two-run triple past the diving Haley Norris in right field to bring home Henderson and Hargrove to cut the deficit to just one at 3-2. Kathleen Wheeler tied the game with a single up the middle.
The Lady Raiders had a big inning of their own in the bottom of the fourth. Norris walked on four straight pitches to lead off the inning, then Woodall grounded out into a fielder's choice. Back-to-back-to-back errors by Priceville gave Good Hope a 5-3 lead. McDonald then lined a two-run double on the first pitch to widen the lead to 7-3. Priceville started their comeback in the top of the fifth. Henderson led off the inning with a bloop single off the glove of Norris. Consecutive fielder's choices had the new pitcher, McDonald, one out away from getting out of the inning, but Kathleen Wheeler hit an RBI double to cut the lead to 7-4. Walter led off the Lady Bulldogs' sixth with a single to left-center. Back-to-back wild pitches by McDonald put her at third with no outs. Wilson drove her in with an RBI double to left-center, then after a single by Ashlyn McDonald, she moved to second on the throw in. Garrison and Henderson hit consecutive RBI ground outs to tie the game at seven.
Good Hope countered in their half. Tucker led off the inning with an infield single, then she stole second, and went to third on a Tankersley infield single, and she moved to second on a pitch. McDonald gave Good Hope the lead with a sacrifice fly, then English hit an RBI ground out to give them a 9-7 lead heading into the final inning. Priceville was very aggressive to lead off the inning as Hensley and Kathleen Wheeler hit a single and a double, respectively, on the first pitch, to give the Lady Bulldogs a chance to tie or take the lead. McDonald got Hannah Wheeler to ground out to Lowe at first. Walter tied the game at nine with a two-run single up the middle. Later in the inning, Garrison gave Priceville a 10-9 lead with an RBI single of her own. McDonald retired Good Hope on just nine pitches to end the game.
Beddingfield went four innings, giving up seven runs, five of them earned, on six hits, walking two and striking out three. McDonald went three innings as she gave up three hits, two runs, walked and struck out none. She also added two hits. Kathleen Wheeler went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a single and two RBIs. Hensley, Wilson and Walter all had two hits and a combined five RBIs. Garrison had a hit and two RBIs. Henderson had a hit and an RBI. Priceville improved to 12-4 on the season and will travel to West Limestone on Thursday.
Lowe went three innings, giving up three hits, three runs, walking two, striking out one, and she hit two. McDonald went the final four innings as she gave up 12 hits, nine runs, walked none and struck out none. She added two hits and three RBIs as well. Tucker and Tankersley each had two hits and a combined three RBIs. English had a hit and an RBI. The Lady Raiders fell to 6-12 on the season and will look to snap their three-game losing streak at the third annual Gulf Coast Classic next Monday.
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