By By Ryan Satcher/staff writer
April 18, 2004
It wasn't always pretty, but the Clarkdale Lady Bulldogs got the job done on Saturday afternoon against Richton in second-round fast-pitch softball playoff action.
The Lady Bulldogs advanced to the South State with a 7-4 win over the visiting Lady Rebels.
The Lady Bulldogs advance to the third round, where they host Philadelphia in a doubleheader on Saturday to open the best-of-three series. Philadelphia beat Mize twice on Saturday to advance to play Clarkdale.
Against Richton, the Lady Bulldogs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Savannah Satcher walked and scored on a two-out single by Lindsey Dawkins. Emily Howard followed with an RBI single.
Both teams struggled at the plate, but Richton got rolling in the third inning thanks to a couple Clarkdale errors.
Cassie Bailey singled to start the rally. Terri Edwards followed with a ground ball to second. The grounder was fielded but Bailey was able to avoid the tag and the throw to first went high allowing the Lady Rebels to have two runners on.
With two outs, Kasey Ruffin singled in a run to make the score 2-1. Megan Malone followed with a dribbler that was misplayed to allow another run to score.
A dropped fly ball in the outfield allowed the Lady Rebels to score two more runs to take a 4-2 lead over the Lady Bulldogs.
Clarkdale got one run back in the bottom of the third inning. Brandi Wright singled and scored on a single by Satcher to make the score 4-3.
The Lady Bulldogs then put three runs on the board in the fourth inning to take control.
Howard walked and Sabrina Woodall was hit by a pitch. Casey Meador followed with a bunt that was fielded by the pitcher but nobody covered first base which allowed Clarkdale to load the bases with no outs.
Alyssa Bye came through with an RBI single to tie the game and Kimbo Seale delivered a two-run single to give Clarkdale a 6-4 lead.
Howard kept the lead for the Lady Bulldogs as she faced just nine batters in the final three innings.
Clarkdale added a run in the sixth inning to secure the win. Bye singled and scored on a walk by Dawkins to make the final score 7-4.