VINEMONT, Ala. – This year’s Cullman County Softball Tournament officially got underway at the Vinemont Sports Complex Monday night and it was a full night of action on the diamond. Cold Springs, Good Hope and Vinemont won their opening round matchups and after enjoying a bye in round one, the West Point Lady Warriors defeated Cold Springs to advance. Fairview eliminated Hanceville in their second-round matchup and Good Hope put Vinemont away to stay alive.
Cold Springs 9 – Holly Pond 2 (Round one)
The Lady Broncos took a 2-0 lead over Cold Springs in the first inning, thanks in large part to a solo homerun from Kaylee Stallings. However, the Lady Eagles bounced back and were able to take a 3-2 lead by the end of the second.
Morgan Chasteen’s first homerun of the day gave Cold Springs a 5-2 lead in the top of the fifth and her second homer made it a 7-2 game in the top of the seventh. An RBI double by Hiedi Nichols added two more runs to lead in the final from and the Lady Eagles held on to win it 9-2 and advance to face West Point in the winners’ bracket. Holly Pond would go on to play Vinemont in an elimination game late Monday night.
Good Hope 7 – Fairview 6 (Round one)
The Lady Raiders came up with some runs in the final frame to edge Fairview 7-6 in what was easily the closets contest of day one. The Lady Aggies plated three runs in the top of the first and three more in the top of the second to take an early 6-0 lead, but Good Hope responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to make it a 6-2 game.
That score held through the third inning, but the Lady Raiders added two more in the fourth to make it a 6-4 game, setting up a dramatic seventh inning. After an error and a passed ball allowed Good Hope to tie the game at 6, Lexie Hays drilled a walk-off RBI single into right-center field to give the Lady Raiders a 7-6, comeback win over Fairview. With the win, Good Hope advance to take on Vinemont in the winners’ bracket while the Lady Aggies moved into an elimination game against Hanceville.
Vinemont 15 – Hanceville 3 (Round one)
The Lady Eagles scored early and often in their opening-round matchup against Hanceville. The Lady Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first but couldn’t hold onto it for long. Vinemont cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom half of the first and plated six runs in the second to take a 7-2 lead into the third.
The Lady Eagles extended their lead to 11-3 by the end of the third and after pulling ahead 15-3 in the fourth inning, Vinemont got the last three outs it needed in the top of the fifth to secure a 15-3 win in just five innings. The Lady Eagles advanced to take on Good Hope in the winners’ bracket and Hanceville went on to face Fairview in an elimination game.
Fairview 17 – Hanceville 2 (Round two)
After falling to Vinemont 15-3 in round one, things didn’t get any easier for Hanceville in the second round. The Lady Bulldogs had their hands full with Fairview in Monday night’s first elimination game and the Lady Aggies put 11 runs on the board in the first inning to put things out of reach early.
Deavan Fulmer blasted two homeruns for Fairview in the bottom of the first and the Lady Aggies racked up eight hits in the inning. Fairview added three more runs in the second and three more in third to continue pulling away from the Lady Bulldogs and cruised to a 17-2 win in just three innings.
Hanceville was eliminated from this year’s competition with the loss and the Lady Aggies will take on Cold Springs in another elimination game late Monday night.
West Point 11 – Cold Springs 0 (Round two)
The Lady Warriors made quick work of Cold Springs in their first matchup of this year’s county tournament. Carlie Wilkins got the start for West Point and gave up just one hit to the Lady Eagles in five innings of work, striking out eight batters in the process.
A 2-run single by Brindlee Phillips gave the Lady Warriors a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first and they added to their lead in the bottom of the second. Phillips drove in a few more runs with a grand slam in the second and after two innings, West Point held a 7-0 lead. A 3-run bomb off the bat of Makayla Brown made it a 10-0 game in the fourth inning and after tacking one more run on an error, the Lady Warriors pulled away to defeat the Lady Eagles 11-0.
Good Hope 16 – Vinemont 0 (Round two)
After taking a 2-0 lead in the first and a 4-0 lead after two innings, the Lady Raiders exploded for 12 runs in the next three innings to take a massive lead and put Vinemont away 16-0 in just five innings. The Lady Raiders will advance to West Point in the winners’ bracket Tuesday at 4 p.m. and the Lady Eagles will take on Holly Pond in an elimination game late tonight.
Fairview 16 – Cold Springs 11 (Round three)
Cold Springs and Fairview combined for 33 hits in this late night shootout but after taking a big lead early, the Lady Aggies withstood a rally from the Lady Eagles and held on to win it 16-11. Fairview plated four runs in the opening frame to take a 4-0 lead and scored twice in each of the next two innings to pull ahead 8-0 going into the bottom of the third. Cold Springs got one run on the board in the bottom of the third, but the Lady Aggies responded with three more runs in the top of the fourth to make it an 11-1 game.
After tacking on one more run in the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Eagles’ bats got hot in the fifth inning as they exploded for eight runs to trim the lead to 11-10 going into the sixth. Fairview answered with a 5-run sixth inning to move in front 16-10 and Cold Springs wasn’t able to match with another big inning, falling to the Lady Aggies 16-11.
Holly Pond 11 – Vinemont 8 (Round three)
In the final game of the opening day, the Lady Broncos clashed with the Lady Eagles and were able to finish ahead of Vinemont 11-8 to advance to the next round and eliminate the Lady Eagles. Holly Pond will face Fairview in the next round of games Tuesday afternoon.
Copyright 2021 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
