GOOD HOPE – A busy day of softball for the West Point Lady Warriors began Saturday at 8 a.m. in the Good Hope Invitational. It ended for the 2016 Cullman County champions at 11:25 p.m. with a 6-0 loss in the title game to Carbon Hill.
West Point would play five games on Saturday for its assignment in the event hosted by Good Hope High School.
Due to midweek rains, the tournament changed locations from Good Hope City Park to Good Hope High School, also losing a game from the schedule in the process.
West Point was given a bye from the revised Friday schedule. It didn't seem to bother the Lady Warriors as they woke up early Saturday, came to Good Hope, downed Holly Pond 10-3 at 8 a.m. and 75 minutes after that, took out Haleyville by a margin of 4-0.
That put West Point as the No. 1 seed in Pool B when the event went into tournament play.
In the quarterfinals, the Lady Warriors were back on the Good Hope diamond at 3:30 p.m., defeating Oakman 5-2.
Their semifinal game with Haleyville began at 8:12 p.m. and ended at 9:28 in a 4-2 triumph.
Molly Pendley singled in a run, scored a run on a passed ball while a balk was called against Haleyville's pitcher, bringing in Makayla Brown from third. West Point built a 3-0 lead after an inning then got an insurance run in the fourth when Tess Hembree walked, stole second and third and scored on Jeri Beasley's single to center.
Beasley gave up a couple of hits in the final inning, but had Haleyville to ground out to Courtney Blackwood at short who threw to Brown at first and the Lady Warriors were now going for an invitational tournament title.
Carbon Hill kept Good Hope from playing in the title game of its own event, getting by the Lady Raiders 3-2 in the first semifinal.
After Good Hope tied the game at 2-2 in the third on Bailey Starnes' single, scoring Josie McDonald, who tripled, Carbon Hill came back with a run in the fifth on a ground ball to third with one out in the inning and runners on the corners.
The Lady Bulldogs shut down Good Hope in the final two innings, and the Lady Raiders' three-game winning streak ended at 7:57 p.m.
The championship was scoreless until Carbon Hill tallied four runs in the fourth. One was scored on a fielder's choice. But a single by Allie Parr and a throwing error brought three runs home during the play and Carbon Hill had momentum and a 4-0 lead.
Karlie Ratliff had allowed West Point only one hit, a single in the third by Olivia Ball, before the Lady Warriors attempted a comeback in the final inning.
Gracie Abbott, Ball and Brown all got singles against Ratliff, but the right-hander got a ground out that forced Abbott out at third, a pop out to second by Pendley and Hembree to pop out to third to end the game.
It was Carbon Hill's second shutout of the tournament. The Lady Bulldogs started their assignment Friday blanking Haleyville 3-0. Carbon Hill also had the largest margin of victory when the Lady Bulldogs romped over Brindlee Mountain in the quarterfinals 13-1.
Good Hope claimed two shutouts in the tournament too, taking down Brindlee Mountain 8-0 Friday and Holly Pond 6-0 in quarterfinal play.
Cullman County teams were getting the best of the non-county opponents in the tournament, winning four out of five before Haleyville upset Cold Springs 3-1 in the quarterfinals then Good Hope losing in the semis and West Point in the finals to Carbon Hill.
