VINEMONT – If you are a fan of high school softball, Vinemont Sports Complex was the place to be Thursday afternoon as eight varsity teams descended on the fields in hopes of being crowned Cullman Umpires' Association Invitational champion.
Corner 11, Fairview 1
Corner jumped on Fairview from the opening pitch to the last seconds of the 65-minute time allotment for games, proving that they are a force to be reckoned with in the tournament. Ashley Cox got the ball rolling, literally, for the Lady Yellow Jackets in the first when she reached base on an error. She quickly swiped second then moved to third on a wild pitch, putting herself in scoring position with nobody out. Shelby Sanford joined her teammate on the base paths via a free pass and Sadyee Keith filled the bags full of Lady Yellow Jackets one batter later when she wore a pitch in the ribs. This set the plate for clean-up hitter Brantly Bonds, who did her job, smashing a two-run double to score Cox and Sanford. Just two batters later Bailey Blackmon got in on the fun with a two-run double of her own to make the score 4-0 after one half inning.
Fairview also scored in their first at-bat. Katie Ball was the first Lady Aggie to climb into the batter’s box and she promptly slapped a single to the left side of the diamond and stole second just as quickly, bringing Daisy Manasco to the dish. She put the ball in play, finding a hole for the single and scoring Ball. It was the one and only Lady Aggies run.
Corner went right back to work in the second, adding two more runs on a Kaylee Ellis two RBI single to put the Lady Yellow Jackets ahead 6-1. Corner finished the game up 11-1 when time was called.
Corner 5, Good Hope 1
Just 15 minutes after their win over Fariview, Corner was on the diamond again against a Cullman County team with similar results. Keith was the star of the show in game two when she scored a run and knocked in two in the 5-1 victory. The lone Good Hope run came in the bottom of the second when Derekia Tankersley led off the inning with a walk and came around to score on an Alex Stansell RBI single.
Good Hope 2, Fairview 1
In the first game that featured two Cullman County teams, Good Hope and Fairview played each other to a near stalemate that saw Good Hope squeeze out the victory.
The Lady Raiders started the game at the plate and quickly got things going when Erika Woodall drew a lead-off walk. Skylar Tucker earned her way on base the painful way, taking a pitch to the side, to put two Lady Raiders on with nobody out. With Josie McDonald at the plate, Woodall stole third and came hope when she saw the ball sail into left field as Fairview tried to gun her down at third. Good Hope picked up their second run in the same frame when Tucker came home to score on a wild pitch to give the Lady Raiders a 2-0 lead without the benefit of an RBI hit.
Not to be outdone, Fairview scored in their half of the first as well thanks to some timely hitting and smart base running. Ball led off the Lady Aggies' inning with a double, taking third on a heads-up base-running decision via an error. She came home two batters later when Jordan Moore picked up the RBI on a ground out. Unfortunately for Fairview, this was the only run they scored as they dropped their second game on the day.
Fairview 6, Hanceville 0
After losing their first two games on the day, the Lady Aggies got a manner of revenge in the final game of the night when they defeated the Hanceville Lady Bulldogs.
Both hurlers were on in the circle in the early stages of the Fairview-Hanceville showdown. It looked as if the two teams were going to play to a 0-0 tie, until the bottom of the third, that is.
After two outs and what seemed like it was going to be another ho-hum inning, Fairview went to work, playing a little station-to-station softball. Ball started the rally as she reached on an infield single. Manasco followed with a single of her own to bring Moore to the plate. For the third straight time in the inning, Fairview singled, but this time it came with an RBI as Moore’s hit brought Ball home and moved Manasco to second. A fourth straight single loaded the bases for Fairview as they continued the merry-go-round on the base paths. Ally Hogeland and Isabella McGukin followed with the fifth and sixth singles in as many at bats to bring home two more runs. Anna Scott earned an RBI with a base on balls but the big blow was a Savannah Sivlay two RBI single that pushed the Fairview lead to 6-0 and gave the Lady Aggies the victory as time expired two batters into the Hanceville fourth.
OTHER SCORES
- Hanceville 3, Southeastern 1
- Hanceville 5, Meek 4
- Good Hope 13, Meek 0
- Cold Springs 14, Vinemont 0
- Holly Pond 5, Cold Springs 0
- Holly Pond 4, Vinemont 2
- West Point 11, Vinemont 0
- Walker 11, West Point 6
- West Point 13, Holly Pond 1
Varsity play will resume Saturday.
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