Tharptown rallies early, but falls to Athens Bible

HUNTSVILLE — Hours after a demoralizing 11-4 loss to Covenant Christian, the Tharptown softball team appeared to be on the brink of another crushing defeat.

The Lady Wildcats fell behind Athens Bible School 6-2 by the end of the second inning of an elimination game during the North Region Softball Tournament Friday night before rallying with five runs in the third inning to regain the lead.

Tharptown faltered in the bottom of the fifth inning as Athens Bible scored nine runs to seize control of the game with a 15-7 lead.

The Lady Wildcats added three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh, but it was not enough as Athens Bible earned a 16-11 victory to knock Tharptown out of the tournament.

“They played with a lot of heart,” Tharptown coach Susie Sellers said. “They were scared to death the first game and seemed more relaxed the second game.”

The Tharptown bats generated much more offense in the second game.

Kayla Herring hit a pair of doubles and reached on two fielder’s choices to lead the team while Heather Hatton doubled once and singled twice. Chelsea McCluskey and Chloe Lane hit two singles each.

All four players scored two runs each for the Lady Wildcats.

Shelby Palmer took the loss for Tharptown, but hit a homerun at the plate.

Lori Metcalf, Casey Mitchell and Haley Hatton all singled while Braeden Sellers drew a walk and scored a run.