Finished just short

By Staff
Lady Bulldogs rally late before falling to Decatur 5-4 in Brewer Tournament final
Justin Schuver, Hartselle Enquirer
The Lady Bulldogs scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning but it wasn't quite enough as Priceville fell to Decatur 5-4 in the championship game of the Brewer Lady Patriot Invitational Saturday.
Decatur took a 5-0 lead through the top of the fifth inning before Priceville battled back to make it a game, scoring four runs with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. But the Lady Bulldogs could never get the tying run across the plate, despite having several good chances in the late innings.
"We gave them some errors early and they scored runs off those," Priceville coach Bob Eubanks said. "We knew Decatur was a good team and when you play the good teams, you've got to play your best game as well."
Decatur advanced to the championship game by defeating Danville 4-3 in a timed semifinal game. Priceville dropped West Morgan 1-0 in the other semifinal.
Decatur 5, Priceville 4
The Lady Red Raiders scored three runs in the first, one in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead with Priceville coming up to bat in the bottom of the fifth. That is when the Lady Bulldogs' offense came to life.
Chelsie Garner started the rally with a one-out infield hit, and moved to second base on Sumer Boyd's groundout. Maria Stejskal reached on a walk and both runners moved into scoring position after a passed ball.
Caitlin Williams then laced a double off the centerfield fence, scoring both runs. Jessica Hopper followed with a triple to right field that scored Williams. Hopper scored on an error by Decatur's catcher and Emily Childers closed out the inning with a hard line drive that was snagged by Decatur pitcher Mollie Russell.
Priceville had golden opportunities to score the tying run in the next two innings, but couldn't capitalize. In the bottom of the sixth, Deleasa Henderson reached second base with two outs but was stranded and in the bottom of the seventh, Emily Smith (pinch running for Hopper, who was hit by a pitch) reached third base with two outs but was unable to make it home to score.
Priceville 1, West Morgan 0
Caitlin Williams hit a double and scored on an error to record the only run Priceville would need as the Lady Bulldogs advanced to the final game with a 1-0 win over West Morgan in the semifinals.
Hopper picked up the win for Priceville, pitching all seven innings and allowing just one hit. She struck out six and walked one. Lauren Siebert took the hard-luck loss for West Morgan.
Garner hit a double and a triple, Henderson had a single and Boyd hit a single.
Decatur 4, Danville 3 (6 innings)
Danville's comeback finished short as the game ended after 75 minutes of play, according to tournament rules.
The Lady Hawks trailed 4-2 heading into the sixth inning, but cut that lead to one after Kelsey Bell's RBI groundout scored Brianna Callahan (pinch running for Brittany Atkins, who reached with a double). Danville's offense kept the Lady Raiders from scoring in the bottom of the sixth, but the game was called for time before the Lady Hawks got a chance to bat in the top of the seventh.
Mallory George finished with a double and a single. Kassie Cowart had two singles and an RBI and Kristen Thompson hit two singles. Brittany Atkins added a double and Whitney Haggamaker hit a single.
More single-elimination round games:
Priceville 6, Randolph 3
The Lady Bulldogs had little trouble with Randolph in the first round of elimination play Saturday. Priceville scored three runs in the first inning and two in the second and held off Randolph's comeback attempts from there.
Williams finished 3-for-3 with a solo home run and Hopper was 2-for-3 with a two-run home run.
Danville 4, Athens Bible 1
Thompson picked up the win for the Lady Hawks in their first-round game Saturday morning, allowing four hits over six innings.
She also contributed at the plate, hitting a home run and collecting two RBIs. Bethany Evans had a double, single and scored a run and Kristen Sparkman hit a two-RBI double and a single.
Atkins, Cowart, Bell and Haggamaker each had a single.
Pool play games:
Danville finished 1-0-1 in its pool play games, defeating Brewer 2-1 and tying East Limestone 1-1. Pool play had no bearing on seeding in the single-elimination tournament.
In the Brewer game, Atkins struck out four in six innings and hit a single. George hit two singles and a double; Sparkman hit two singles and scored two runs; and Nicole Linderman, Thompson and Evans hit a single each.
In the East Limestone game, Atkins picked up the win, allowing three hits over four innings. Sparkman finished 2-for-2 with two singles and Linderman was 1-for-1 with an RBI and a double.