Lady Red Devils stun Belgreen
Vina catcher Brandi White throws to third base against Red Bay during the Franklin County Tournament.
THARPTOWN – The Vina varsity softball team has struggled in recent years, especially in the Franklin County Softball Tournament.
Coach Richie Hester said the last time he remembers the Lady Red Devils winning a game in the double-elimination tournament was about a decade ago. That changed Thursday night when Vina erased a six-run deficit to beat Belgreen 11-9 in the first game of the Losers’ Bracket.
“We almost beat them before,” said Vina catcher Brandi White. “Why not now?”
Early in the game it looked as though the Lady Red Devils were heading for another loss as Belgreen built a 4-1 lead by the end of the first inning.
Vina added two more runs in the second, but once again Belgreen scored often in the bottom half of the inning to take a 9-3 advantage.
The Lady Red Devils scored once in the third and kept Belgreen off the scoreboard, but a win still looked like a distant reality.
“We just kept our teammates up instead of getting down,” said Chelsea Darracott.
That motivation worked in the fourth inning as Vina sent 10 batters to the plate with seven of them scoring.
Courtney Watson and Baylee Cochran led off the inning by drawing a pair of walks. Watson scored on a passed ball and Claudia Townsend reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in Cochran before Hasha Watson drew another walk.
Raleigh Rivera reached on an error as Townsend scored then Hasha Watson scored on a passed ball to cut Belgreen’s lead to 9-8.
Victoria Cochran’s two-run inside-the-park home run gave the Lady Red Devils a lead they would not give up.
“My thought was to get Raleigh home and tie the game,” Victoria Cochran said.
Darracott followed the homer by reaching on a throwing error that allowed her to advance to third base and scored on a sacrifice by White.
Belgreen stranded one runner in the bottom of the fourth as the game ended due to time limit.
April Presley led the Lady Bulldogs with a double, three RBI and two runs scored while Morgan Bradford doubled and scored two runs. Bridget Thompson singled, scored three runs and had one RBI while Kayla Voyles scored a pair of runs and had an RBI.
With the win Vina stays alive in the tournament and will play Tharptown at noon today. Belgreen, which lost to Tharptown earlier Thursday, is eliminated from the tournament.
“They’ve got a great attitude, I’m glad to be their coach,” Hester said. “These girls have stepped up and won five of their last eight games.”
Tharptown 12, Belgreen 11
The Lady Wildcats jumped out to a 4-1 lead by the end of the second inning, but Belgreen scored 10 runs in the third to take the lead.
Tharptown rallied in the bottom half of the third with eight runs of their own to advance in the Winner’s Bracket.
Thompson picked up a pair of hits for Belgreen while Erica Smith singled.
Kendra Baker was the leading hitter for Tharptown with two singles.
The win sent the Lady Wildcats to face Phil Campbell while Belgreen dropped to the Losers’ Bracket to face Vina.
Red Bay 11, Vina 0
Red Bay’s Lexy Lindsey and Emily Cox both went 3-for-3 at the plate as the Lady Tigers topped Vina.
Katelyn Stanfield was 1-for-2 with a sacrifice RBI for Red Bay while Naudia Kelly doubled and Katie Harris hit an RBI single.
Whitney Sharp and Cox pitched two innings each and combined for eight strikeouts.
White reached on an error and was the only Lady Red Devil to reach base.
With the win Red Bay advanced to the finals of the Winners’ Bracket and will play Phil Campbell today at 10:30 a.m.
Phil Campbell 11, Tharptown 0
Phil Campbell’s Lindsey Jackson struck out six Tharptown batters and allowed only one hit as the Lady Bobcats beat the Lady Wildcats to advance to the finals of the Winners’ Bracket.
Phil Campbell took a commanding lead in the top of the first inning as five of the first six batters scored.
The Lady Bobcats added three runs in the second, two runs in the third and one run in the fourth inning.
Sarah Hilliard, Korina Jimenez and Tisha Parker had one hit each for Phil Campbell while Whitley Yocom and Amber Chaney scored three runs each.
Chloe Lane had the only hit for Tharptown.
With the loss Tharptown falls to the Losers’ Bracket to face Vina at noon today.
