WEST POINT, Ala. – This year’s “Warrior Battle” Tournament at West Point High School resumed Saturday morning and after defeating East Lawrence, Lawrence County and Curry throughout the day, the Lady Warriors claimed the tournament championship Saturday night. West Point ace Carlie Wilkins pitched six hitless innings against East Lawrence in the Lady Warriors’ first win of the day and toppled Lawrence County 3-0 and Curry 8-1 to win this weekend’s “Warrior Battle”. In other baseball and softball action across the state, the Cullman Lady Bearcats were back in action at the John Carroll Classic Saturday morning and the Cullman Bearcats picked up a couple of wins in Gulf Shores, one of which was number 400 for Bearcats Head Coach Brent Patterson.
West Point 3 – East Lawrence 0 (varsity softball)
After Wilkins quickly worked through the top of the first, Gracie Thompson gave the Lady Warriors a 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the inning with a 2-run single that brought Bethany Minck and Molly Pendley around to score. A bunt single from Minck made it a 3-0 game in the bottom of the second and Kayleigh Hayney was able to steal home during the next at-bat to stretch the lead to 4-0.
Wilkins helped herself out and singled to left to bring in Minck for a 5-0 lead and proceeded to keep East Lawrence off the scoreboard the rest of the way, completing a six-inning no-hitter in the process. Wilkins struck out 13 batters in the win.
Thompson (one hit) led West Point with 2 RBIs. Minck (two hits) and Wilkins (one hit) each drove in a run as well. Molly Pendley added a pair of hits in the win and Lexi Kimbrill and Hayney each finished with a hit of their own.
West Point 3 – Lawrence County 0 (varsity softball)
Wilkins came up just short of posting her second no-hitter of the afternoon against Lawrence County but still put together another shutout performance against the Lady Red Devils. West Point got on the board in the top of the first when Molly Pendley doubled into center field and brought Bailey Brock home for a run and after a scoreless second inning, Braelee Quinn stretched the lead to 2-0 with an RBI single in the top of the third.
Wilkins collected three more strikeouts in the bottom half of the third and after working her way out of some trouble in the fourth, Lexi Shadix led off the top of the fifth with a solo shot to left that made it a 3-0 game. Wilkins put things away for the Lady Warriors in the bottom half of the fifth and West Point advanced to the tournament finals against Curry with the 3-0 win.
Wilkins allowed no runs on just two hits and posted nine strikeouts in her second win of the day. Shadix (solo homerun), Pendley (two hits) and Quinn (one hit) each drove in a run for West Point and Nikki Tyree, Gracie Thompson and Wilkins each added a hit as well.
West Point 8 – Curry 1 (varsity softball)
The Lady Warriors fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first in Saturday’s nightcap, but they weren’t trailing for long. An RBI single from Bethany Minck tied the game in the bottom of the second and Nikki Tyree scored on a sacrifice fly from Lexi Shadix to take a 2-1 lead. Molly Pendley drew a bases-loaded walk to bring Lexi Kimbril home and make it 3-1 and the Curry defense mishandled a ground ball off the bat of Braelee Quinn, allowing three more to cross the plate for West Point and extend the lead to 6-1.
RBI singles from Carlie Wilkins and Pendley added to the lead in the bottom of the third and the Lady Yellow Jackets were never able to respond, allowing the Lady Warriors to pull away and win it 8-1. The win secured this year’s “Warrior Battle” championship for the West Point Lady Warriors.
Wilkins picked up her third win of the day after tossing three innings, allowing one run on just two hits and striking out six. Minck (one RBI), Wilkins (one RBI) and Pendley (two RBIs) posted the only hits of the game for West Point. Shadix finished with an RBI as well.
Cullman 6 – Fairhope 4 (varsity baseball)
The ‘Cats got on the board in the top of the first when Max Dueland crossed the plate on a passed ball to make it 1-0 and Brennen Norton was able to come home and score on an error in the next at-bat to stretch the lead to 2-0. Cullman added to its lead in the top of the third when Easton Dean put a ball in play and allowed Paxton Ponder to score run number three.
Fairhope shook things up in the bottom of the third, knocking a grand slam over the left field fence to take a 4-3 lead. After a scoreless fourth inning, the Bearcats loaded the bases in top of the fifth and Jaylen Hughey beat the throw on an infield single to bring Norton home to score and tie the game at 4. Cullman was back at it in the seventh, taking a 5-4 lead after Dueland scored from third on a sac fly from A.J. Miller. Another sacrifice fly from Hughey later in the inning allowed Norton to score his third run of the game and extend the lead to 6-4 and the ‘Cats held on to win it by two after Cooper Bowen kept Fairhope off the board in the final frame.
Hughey (two hits) led Cullman at the plate with two RBIs in the win. Miller and Dean each drove in runs as well and Matt Brock and Nick Braswell added hits for the Bearcats.
Cullman 7 – Saraland 0 (varsity baseball)
The Bearcats got off to a fast start in their second matchup of the day against Saraland, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Brady Patterson scored on a fielder’s choice. Jaylen Hughey doubled in the top of the second to score Max Dueland and make it 2-0 and in the next at-bat, Hayden Stancil singled into left to score Hughey and extend the lead to 3-0. The scoring continued for Cullman and after Easton Dean drew a walk and Patterson was hit by a pitch, Austin Hurt singled into left to score Stancil and Dean and make it a 5-0 game.
After a scoreless third and fourth inning, Ben Hollis scored on an error to tack on another run and Patterson scored on a passed ball in the top of the sixth to ice a 7-0 win.
Jeb Bartle got the start on the mound for the ‘Cats and picked up the win after tossing six scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and striking out four. Miller came on to pitch the final inning for Cullman and struck out all three batters he faced in just 15 pitches to put the finishing touches on the win.
The win over Saraland was a special one for the Bearcats. Saturday afternoon’s win was the 400th for Head Coach Brent Patterson since he took over the reins of the program in 2008. Cullman has won a pair of state championships and finished as state runners-up four times in Patterson’s tenure.
Cullman 9 – Boaz 1 (varsity softball)
The Lady Bearcats were back in action at the John Carroll Classic early Saturday morning and got things started with a convincing win over Boaz. After a scoreless first and second inning, the bats erupted for Cullman in the bottom half of the third. Kylie Stracener scored on an RBI single from Savannah Davis and Carlie Burnham singled up the middle to score Haley Shannon and make it 2-0.
Faith Guest singled to score Davis and extend the lead to 3-0 and four pitches later, Olivia Britton blasted a 3-run bomb over center field to make it a 6-0 game. A Dayln Phillips single allowed Taylor Au to score and stretch it to 7-0 and a 2-run single off the bat of McKenna Kline brought two more runs across the plate and made it 9-0.
A solo homer got Boaz on the board in the top of the fourth but it as too little, too late and the Lady Bearcats held on to win it 9-1.
Aiden Adcock got the start for Cullman and allowed one run on just two hits and struck out two in four innings of work. Britton (homerun) led the way for the Lady Bearcats with three RBIs and Kline (one hit) drove in a pair or runs in the win. Davis (one hits), Burnham (one hit), Guest (one hit) and Phillips (one hit) each collected RBIs for Cullman as well.
John Carroll 7 – Cullman 5 (varsity softball)
A 2-run homer gave John Carroll an early lead in the top of the first and an RBI single made it 3-0 before the Lady Bearcats could grab the bats. An RBI single from Olivia Britton brought Carlie Burnham around to score and trimmed the lead to two but John Carroll got the run back and then some in the top of the third, scoring three runs to take a 6-1 lead.
An error allowed another run to cross the plate for John Carroll and stretch the lead to 7-1 but the Lady Bearcats were able to generate some offense in the fourth. A 3-run triple by Sarah Herfurth cut the lead to 7-4 and an RBI single by Haley Shannon made it a 2-run game but Cullman couldn’t get any closer than that, falling 7-5.
Herfurth (one hit) led the Lady Bearcats with three RBIs. Shannon (two hits) and Britton (one hit) drove in runs as well.
Jemison 10 – Cullman 3 (varsity softball)
Cullman jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first after RBI singles from Carlie Burnham and Faith Guest and Shana Guest doubled in the second to score Taylor Au and make it 3-0. Unfortunately for the Lady Bearcats, it was all Jemison after that.
The Lady Panthers tacked on six runs in the bottom of the second to move ahead and take a 6-3 lead and they added four more in the bottom of the third to pull away and win it 10-3.
Burnham (two hits) and Shana (one hit) and Faith Guest (one hit) each drove in runs for Cullman in the loss.
Other Saturday scores:
Hanceville 12 – Columbia 1 (varsity softball)
Good Hope 10 – Hanceville 1 (varsity softball)
Curry 7 – Good Hope 1 (varsity softball)
Addison 2 – Good Hope 1 (varsity baseball)
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