CULLMAN, Ala. – The 20th annual Cullman Pre-State Blowout Tournament kicked off with pool play Friday night and several local teams (Cullman, West Point, Holly Pond and Cold Springs) each earned wins to help set themselves in good shape for Saturday’s bracket games.
Cullman 10 – McAdory 4
Cullman faced off against McAdory in their second game of the day and they started out the game red-hot offensively. Haley Shannon reached on an error to lead off the game, then Taylor Au hit an RBI double to give the Lady Bearcats a 1-0 lead. Savannah Davis drilled a two-run home run over the left field fence to make it 3-0. The Lady Yellow Jackets got on the scoreboard in their opening at-bats as an RBI single cut the Cullman lead to 3-1.
Cullman quickly broke the game wide open in the fourth inning. Three singles loaded the bases with one out for the Lady Bearcats, then Shannon hit a two-run single to center field to push their lead to 5-1. Davis and Burnham each hit back-to-back two-run doubles as that made it 9-1. Cullman added another run in the fifth on a Kylie Stracener sacrifice fly to make it 10-1. McAdory hit a three-run triple in their half to make it 10-4, but Brooklyn Morton got the final two outs to end the game as the Lady Bearcats picked up a 10-4 win over the Lady Yellow Jackets.
Davis had a huge game at the plate as she finished with a pair of hits and four RBIs for Cullman (14-16). Burnham added a pair of hits and two RBIs. Shannon and Au each collected a pair of hits and an RBI in the contest. Stracener added a hit and an RBI. Abby Maples ended up with an RBI. Morton and Faith Guest each finished with a pair of hits in the contest and Kathryn Dueland chipped in with a hit of her own.
Holly Pond 6 – Danville 2
Holly Pond took on Danville in their first game of the day at Heritage Park. The Lady Broncos got on the scoreboard in their opening at-bats. Samantha Giles drew a leadoff walk and later stole second. She moved to third on a Kaylee Stallings single and then stole home to give Holly Pond a 1-0 lead. The Lady Broncos added to their lead in the bottom of the second.
Madyson Rickman and Molly Neal hit back-to-back singles, then an out later, Lexie Smith hit an RBI groundout to make it 2-0. Giles hit an RBI triple to left field to push Holly Pond’s lead to 3-0. Bai Widner hit an RBI single to right field, then Stallings lined an RBI double to help increase the Lady Bronco lead to 5-0. Danville got on the scoreboard in the top of the third on an RBI groundout, but Holly Pond made it 6-1 in the fourth as Giles scored on an error. The Lady Hawks made it 6-2 on an RBI double in the fifth, but Mattie Earl got the final two outs to end the contest as the Lady Broncos ended up defeating the Lady Hawks, 6-2.
Giles and Stallings each finished with a pair of hits and an RBI for Holly Pond. Widner added a hit and an RBI. Smith ended up with an RBI in the contest, while Rickman and Neal each chipped in with a hit of their own.
West Point 5 – Corner 0
West Point took on Corner to start out their day and they quickly got off to a good start offensively. Macayla Wilkins hit a one-out single to left field, then Carlie Wilkins lined a two-run home run over the left field fence to give the Lady Warriors a 2-0 lead. Sidney Burks reached on a dropped third strike, then Ella Minck, the courtesy runner for Burks, came around to score on an RBI double by Braelee Quinn to make it 3-0.
West Point added their final two runs of the game in the third inning. Carlie Wilkins reached on a Lady Yellow Jacket error to lead off the inning, then a Burks walk, and another Corner error loaded the bases for Kylee Quinn. Quinn fouled off eight straight pitches and then, finally on pitch number 11, she hit a two-run double to left field to give the Lady Warriors a 5-0 lead. That was more than enough run support for Carlie Wilkins as she ended the game by striking out the side and West Point picked up a 5-0 win over Corner.
Carlie Wilkins and Kylee Quinn each finished with a hit and two RBIs for West Point. Braelee Quinn added a hit and an RBI. Bethany Minck, Macayla Wilkins, and Maci Brown each collected a hit in the contest as well. Carlie Wilkins pitched a no-hitter for the Lady Warriors as she walked two and struck out five.
Cold Springs 13 – Susan Moore 0
Cold Springs got off to a red-hot start in their first game of the day against Susan Moore. Brooklyn Ingram led off the home half of the first inning with a single and later came around to score on an RBI double by Emma Black. Ciara Calvert crushed a two-run home run over the left field fence to make it 3-0. The Lady Eagles quickly broke things open in the second inning.
Anna Stricklin and Maddie Pearl each drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning, then Ingram hit a two-run single to left field to push Cold Springs’ lead to 5-0. Later on, a Black RBI groundout made it 6-0. After Calvert reached on an error, Journee Swann hit an RBI single to center field to make it 7-0. Adriana Young later added another single for the Lady Eagles and Swann, along with Young, later scored on another Lady Bulldog error to increase their lead to 9-0. Ingram added another RBI single as that made it 10-0. Cold Springs added their final three runs of the game in the bottom of the third inning as Calvert scored on a wild pitch and Erin Bailey and Young scored on a Susan Moore error. The Lady Eagles rolled past the Lady Bulldogs, 13-0.
Ingram had a huge game at the plate for Cold Springs as she finished with three hits and three RBIs. Calvert added a pair of hits and two RBIs. Black ended up with a hit and two RBIs. Swann added a hit and an RBI in the contest, while Kennedy and Young each chipped in with a hit of their own. Black finished with a no-hitter for the Lady Eagles as she finished with six strikeouts in the game.
Fort Payne 8 – Cullman 5
Cullman looked to strike first to start out the game. Taylor Au got hit by the pitch with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts quickly ended the inning. Ft. Payne hit a leadoff single, then a Lady Bearcat error allowed them to cross the plate for the first run of the game. An RBI groundout gave the Lady Wildcats a 2-0 lead, then they would add three more runs in the bottom of the second on a pair of Cullman errors.
Two more Lady Bearcat errors and a passed ball in the third helped Ft. Payne push their lead to 8-0. Cullman got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth. Au hit a single to right field to lead off the inning, then a fielder’s choice and back-to-back singles by Carlie Burnham and Olivia Britton loaded the bases with one out. An RBI groundout by Brooklyn Morton cut the deficit to seven at 8-1. The Lady Bearcats quickly loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth, then Au lined a two-run single to right field to make it 8-3. Later on, Haley Shannon scored on a passed ball to cut it to 8-4, then an RBI fielder’s choice by Britton made it 8-5. They didn’t get any closer after that as the Lady Bearcats dropped their first game of the day to Ft. Payne, 8-5.
Au finished with a pair of hits and two RBIs for Cullman. Britton added a hit and an RBI. Morton ended up with an RBI, while Shannon, Burnham, and Kylie Stracener each chipped in with a hit of their own.
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