DECATUR, Ala. – The West Point Lady Warriors hit the road Friday to compete at this year’s Decatur Invitational and split their pool play matchups on day one. Carlie Wilkins put together four perfect innings in the Lady Warriors’ 3-0 win over Randolph but came up just short against Danville 4-3. They’ll head back to Decatur Saturday to continue competing in this year’s tournament.
West Point 3 – Randolph 0 (Game One)
Neither team could get anything going in the first three innings. The only person from both sides that reached base was West Point’s Kylee Quinn, who reached on an error in the third inning. Wilkins was a strikeout machine through the first three innings, fanning seven of the nine batters she faced. The Lady Warriors finally got something going in the top of the fourth inning. Macayla Wilkins led off the inning with a single to center field and later advanced to second on a wild pitch. She would then steal third and later scored on a Randolph error to give West Point a 1-0 lead.
Two outs later, the Lady Warriors added to their lead as back-to-back RBI triples by Lexi Kimbril and Ella Minck helped increase their lead to 3-0. That was all the run support that Carlie Wilkins would need as she added two more strikeouts in the fourth inning and ended up pitching a perfect game in the process in the Lady Warriors’ 3-0 win over the Lady Raiders.
Kimbril and Minck each finished with a hit and an RBI in the game for West Point (5-0), while Macayla Wilkins added a hit as well. Wilkins tossed four perfect innings in the win and struck out nine Randolph batters.
Danville 4 – West Point 3 (Game Two)
Danville quickly got on the scoreboard first to start out the game as a one-out RBI single gave them a 1-0 lead. They followed that up with an RBI double to make it 2-0, but West Point quickly answered right back in their half. Macayla Wilkins drew a one-out walk, then Carlie Wilkins drove a two-run home run over the right field fence to tie the game up at two.
The Lady Warriors broke the tie in the bottom of the second inning. Kylee Quinn drew a leadoff walk and then stole second. She moved to third on an Ella Minck single and Bethany Minck drove her in with a sacrifice fly to give West Point a 3-2 lead. The Lady Hawks, though, responded in the top of the third as a two-run home run with one out gave them a 4-3 lead. West Point looked to get the lead right back in the bottom of the third. Carlie Wilkins reached on a Danville error to lead off the inning, then Braelee Quinn hit a single to right field to put runners on first and second with one out. But a strikeout and a fielder’s choice quickly got the Lady Hawks out of the inning.
After retiring Danville in order in the top of the fourth inning, the Lady Warriors looked to win the game in their half. Sidney Burks hit a leadoff single, then one out later, Ella Minck drew a walk. But Macayla Wilkins flew out and Carlie Wilkins grounded out to end the game as West Point dropped their first game of the season to Danville, 4-3.
Carlie Wilkins finished with the two-run home run for West Point (5-1). Braelee Quinn, Burks, and Minck each added a hit in the game as well. The Lady Warriors will be back on the field on Saturday.
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