CULLMAN – Friday marked the start of the Cullman High School Pre-State Blowout at Heritage Park and the Field of Miracles. Pool play was on the agenda Friday afternoon with Cullman leading the way with the first two games in Pool A
Cullman 6, Corner 4
Corner made their presence felt early in game one, plating three runs in the top of the second inning with the big blow coming from Kaylee Ellis when she raked a two-run RBI single to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Lady Yellow Jackets.
It took until the bottom of the third for the Lady Bearcats to get on the board but they did it in a big way, scoring six and taking a lead they never gave up. Cullman quickly loaded the bases with a walk earned by Gracie Cook, a single by Sierra Easterwood and a walk by Bailey Swann. Next up was McKensi Burks who promptly doubled home Cook and Easterwood. Swann came home on the same play via a throwing error, tying the score at 3-3. Hannah Morton headed to the plate next and blasted a two-run home run to increase the Cullman lead to 5-3, but they were not done. Tiffani Schwaiger matched Morton with a blast of her own, making the score 6-3.
Corner added a run in the top of the fourth, but the 70-minute time limit expired and Cullman claimed the 6-4 win.
Oak Mountain 5, Cullman 1
It was tough sledding for Cullman in game number two. The Lady Bearcats scored the first run of the game in the top of the first when Burks singled home Swann to give the Lady 'Cats their first and only run of the contest.
Oak Mountain came back and tied the game in the bottom of the second when Cassidy Greenwood opened the inning with a single up the middle. She was moved to second then to third on back-to-back sacrifices.
Greenwood came home to score on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1.
The game stayed knotted at one until the bottom of the fourth when Oak Mountain exploded for four runs on a two-run infield single by Maddie Katona; an illegal pitch and a wild pitch both scored runs as time expired. Oak Mountain took the victory 5-1.
Tournament play starts at 9:30 a.m. Saturday with the small schools final set for 3:30 p.m. and the large schools to play for the title at 5 p.m. Both title games will be at Heritage Park.
Good Hope
Over at the Field of Miracles, Good Hope lost 6-1 to East Lawrence and 6-1 to Oneonta. They play in the small schools bracket at 12:30 Saturday vs. J.B. Pennington at Field 4 at Heritage Park.
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