West Lauderdale readies for playoffs with win

By By Steve Swogetinsky / special to The Star
October 5, 2004
QUITMAN The West Lauderdale Lady Knights warmed up for the upcoming State 3A playoffs with a 13-5 victory over Quitman High School here Monday night.
The Lady Knights, now 22-4 on the season, out-hit Quitman a whopping 22-5.
However, in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, the Lady Knights left the bases loaded and a runner was stranded on third and first in the second stanza.
"We played well," said West Lauderdale coach Jerry Boatner, "but we should have scored more runs. We left too many runners on base, and that's something we are going to have to work on in practice this week."
The Lady Knights host Magee High School Thursday in the first round of the State Playoffs. This is a best two-out-three series, and the winner will be decided at West Lauderdale.
"We usually don't play more than four innings in the first round games," Boatner said.
Quitman High was scheduled to host Jackson Wingfield in the first round of the 4A playoffs. However, Wingfield has forfeited and Quitman has now advanced to the second round of the playoffs, which will be next Tuesday.
West Lauderdale scored three runs in the top of the first. With two runners on and two out, Kristi Lantz belted a base-clearing triple, and then scored off of Sydney Cagle's single to give West a 3-0 lead.
The Lady Knights added three runs in the third. Katie McAlister doubled and then scored on Cagle's fielder's choice. Cagle scored on Morgan Gullette's double. Gullette came home on Sommer Jones' single. Heading into the bottom of the third, West Lauderdale led 6-0.
The Quitman Lady Panthers made their stand in the bottom of the third. Alison Herring got on base with an error and scored when Sasha Phillips put the ball in play. Jessica Creighton singled and Lindsey Martin walked with two out. Gabby Morgan loaded the bases. Then Creighton and Martin scored off of Rebecca Riley's single to cut West Lauderdale's lead to 6-4.
Both teams picked up a run in the fourth. Kayla Eubanks hit a triple and came home for West off McAlister's single. Later, the Lady Panthers put another run on the scoreboard when Herring singled and came home off of a double play. At the end of four innings, West held a 7-5 edge.
A couple of QHS errors helped West Lauderdale's cause in the fifth as Gullette, Ashley Helms and Holly Herrington crossed the plate for the Lady Knights.
"That was a big inning for us," Boatner said. "I felt the momentum changing in the game when they came back on us, and we got it back in the fifth."
Leading 10-5, West Lauderdale put the game on ice with three more runs in the seventh.
Kayla Eubanks went three-for-five for the Lady Knights and hit a triple and a single. Josie Mathews, McAlister, Kristi Lantz and Gullette all went three-for-five for West Lauderdale. Creighton hit two singles to lead Quitman.
Quitman coach D'Aunn Odom was unavailable for comment after the game.