West Point wrapped up a 10-5 victory over Good Hope Wednesday that moved them into Thursday’s title game. / Nick Griffin for The Tribune
HANCEVILLE – Here’s a recap of Wednesday’s games at the 2018 Cullman County Softball Tournament at Hanceville High School.
Fairview 8, Hanceville 5
The Fairview Lady Aggies jumped out to a fast 2-0 start on Hanceville in the top of the first of Wednesday afternoon’s first matchup. Katie Ball crossed the plate on an error for the first run and Rebekah DeBlanc drove in the second with an RBI single into right field.
After a scoreless second inning, Fairview added to its lead in the top of the third. Kaitlyn Benson came home from third on an infield error and in the next at bat, Ball got home again on a fielder’s choice. Ally Hogeland managed to come home for a third run in the inning thanks to a passed ball and put the Lady Aggies up 5-0 headed to the bottom of the third.
The Lady Bulldogs were able to make up some ground in the bottom half of the inning, starting with a double off the fence in left-center from Jadah Hurst that plated two. Taylor Short knocked in another run just a few pitchers later with a single into right field. Hanceville struck out to end the inning but cut the Fairview lead to 5-3 with four innings left to play.
The Lady Aggies managed to get another run across on an error in the fourth, but Hanceville got the run back in the bottom of the inning on a fielder’s choice to make it 6-4. Fairview picked up a run on a passed ball in the fifth, but Hurst quickly answered with another double into center field that brought Cassidy Campbell around to score and make it 7-5 with two innings to play.
Unfortunately for the Lady Bulldogs, Fairview starter Hogeland held their bats scoreless the rest of the way and picked up an 8-5 win after the Lady Aggies pushed one more run across in the sixth on another error.
The Lady Bulldogs were eliminated from tournament contention with the loss and Fairview advanced to face Cold Springs in Wednesday’s nightcap.
West Point 10, Good Hope 5
Game two of Wednesday’s action featured some power hitting early on. Makayla Brown got things started for West Point with a two-run shot over the left-field wall, but Good Hope’s Erika Woodall answered with a bomb of her own to lead off the bottom of the first to make it 2-1 right out of the gate.
Both defenses settled in and cruised through the second inning, but Abby Neighbors stepped up for the Lady Raiders in third with an RBI single that tied the game at two. After a scoreless fourth, Hope Shedd put the Lady Warriors back ahead 4-2 with a double into left field.
Good Hope added a run in the fifth on an error that cut the lead to one but the top of the sixth is where West Point pulled away for good. Molly Pendley put the Lady Warriors back up two with an RBI single into left field that loaded the bases for Olivia Ball. After seeing one pitch, Ball barreled up a grand slam over the fence in left field that cleared the bases and stretched the West Point lead to 9-3. Two at-bats later, Shedd homered into center field to make it 10-3 and all but secure the win.
Good Hope managed to come up with two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice bunt and a fielder’s choice, but it was too little too late for the Lady Raiders and West Point wrapped up a 10-5 victory that moved them into Thursday’s title game.
The Lady Warriors will wait until 4:30 p.m. today to take on the winner of the Fairview and Good Hope matchup at 3.
Fairview 11, Cold Springs 1
The Lady Aggies found a little more success at the plate in their second game Wednesday night against Cold Springs and were able to settle things in just five innings. Hogeland went all five on the mound for Fairview, allowing just one run on two hits.
Fairview struck early and took a quick 2-0 lead on an RBI triple from Hogeland. Hogeland came home from third to make it 3-0 on a passed ball two at-bats later to give Fairview a commanding lead early.
Asia Millwood plated a fourth run in the second with an RBI single into right field and Ball added two more with a triple of her own and gave the Lady Aggies a 6-0 advantage after just two innings. Cold Springs was able to get a run across on an error in the third but couldn’t manufacture any more runs after that.
Fairview picked up another run on a fielder’s choice in the third before Ball knocked in a third run with a solo homer out of center field. After picking up a ninth run on an error in the fourth, Ball drove in her fourth and fifth RBI with a double into left field that ended the game at 11-1 in the fifth. Ball finished the game three for three with five RBIs and just a single short of hitting for the cycle.
The Lady Aggies will square off with Good Hope at 3 p.m. on today for a chance to play for the title against West Point at 4:30.
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