Torrid Hartselle can't unseat Mortimer Jordan

By By Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
MONTGOMERY - Hartselle ‘s Lady Tigers stood tall and proud, with tears glistening in their eyes, as they accepted the runner-up trophy at the conclusion of the Class 5A State Softball Tournament at Lagoon Park in Montgomery Saturday night. Reaching the finals after losing their first game and fighting back with four straight wins in the loser’s bracket lessened the sting of an 11-3 loss to Mortimer Jordan for the championship trophy.
The Lady Tigers were derailed by Rehobeth, the state’s No. 1 ranked 5A team going into the tournament, in the opening round but that didn’t stop them from making a serious run for the title. Competing in the loser’s bracket, they pulled off consecutive wins against Cullman, Springville, Chelsea and St Paul’s Episcopal to get a shot at Mortimer Jordan in the finals. All four of the wins came on Saturday, with the last three games being played back-to-back without a break.
Lady Tigers Sara Lang, Chandler Orr, Kristy Pevahouse and Breanna Rtiley were named to the 5A All-Tournament team.
Against Mortimer Jordan the Lady Tigers grabbed the lead in the top of the first inning by scoring three runs on a pair of doubles, a sacrific e bunt and a couple of Lady Blue Devil throwing errors. They were unable to make the lead hold up, however. The Lady Blue Devils answered by scoring a run in the bottom of the first and tying the score, at 3-3 in the third. They grabbed an 8-3 advantage in the fifth and added three runs in sixth.
The Lady Tigers had only three hits in the contest, a double each by Pevahouse and Lang and a single by Anna Beth Hall. The winners had 11 hits.
Breanna Riley was the losing pitcher. She allowed seven runs on eight hits while striking out five and giving up four walks. Meaghan Gray pitched the final two innings, allowing four runs on four hits and giving up three walks.
Hartselle 2, St. Paul’s 0
The Lady Tigers reached the finals by defeating St Paul’s Episcopal High School of Mobile 2-0.
They grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on a walk and a stolen base by Pevahouse, a hit batter and a single by Audrey McClanahan. Their second run was scored in the sixth inning on a single and stolen based by Pevahouse and a single by McClanahan.
Hartselle had five hits to three for St. Paul’s. Orr and McClanahan each had a pair of singles and Pevahouse had a single.
Riley went the distance on the mound, allowing no runs on three hits while striking out five.
Hartselle 14, Chelsea 4
Hartselle avenged an early season tournament loss to Chelsea by defeating he Lady Hornets 14-4 in a loser’s bracket elimination game.
The Lady Tigers scored a single run in the first inning, five runs in the second, a run in the third, two runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth. The Lady Hornets scored a single run in the first and three more in the third.
Hartselle out-hit the Lady Hornets 17 to five. Lang paced the Lady Tigers with a pair of doubles and three singles. Pevahouse had a triple and a pair of doubles, McClanahan had a double and a pair of singles, Hall had a pair of doubles, Orr doubled and Hayden Watts, Michel Fields an Alex Paulsen each singled.
Meaghan Gray was the winning pitcher. She worked two innings, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out two batters. Riley pitched four innings in relief. She didn’t allow a hit and struck out four.
Hartselle 1, Springville 0
A fifth inning home run by Pevahouse was all the scoring Hartselle needed to eliminate Springville’s Lady Tigers from the tournament in a loser’s bracket game. The senior center fielder stepped to the plate with two out in the bottom of the fifth inning and hammered the first pitch over the center field fence.
The Lady Tigers had four hits in the game. In addition to Pevahouse’s homer, Watts had a pair of singles and Hall doubled.
Riley was the winning pitcher. She allowed no runs on two hits while striking out eight and walking one.
Hartselle 9, Cullman 0
The Lady Tigers eliminated Cullman’s Lady Bearcats 9-0 in their first loser’s bracket game early Saturday morning.
The winners scored five runs in the top of the first inning, two runs in the fifth and single runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
The Lady Tigers collected nine hits to four for Cullman. Lang had three singles, Watts doubled and singled, Hall, McClanahan and Pevahosue each had a pair of singles, and Orr, Ashley Bonner and Fields each singled.
Riley went the distance on the mound and was credited with the win. She allowed no runs on four hits while striking out 11 and walking one.
Rehobeth 7, Hartselle 0
The Lady Tigers struggled in the opening game of the tournament as they lost to Rehobeth’s Lady Rebels 7-0 in the opening round of tournament play on Friday.
The Lady Rebels got off to a strong start as Courtney Cherry blasted a walk-off home run in the bottom of the first inning. They went on to score a single run in the third, two runs in the fourth and three more in the sixth.
The Lady Tigers had seven hits in the game but were unable to produce a run. They left 10 base runners stranded. Hall doubled and singled, McClanahan had a pair of singles, Kimmie Minor doubled and Watts and Orr each singled.
Riley was the losing pitcher. She gave up seven runs on nine hits while striking out four, walking three and hitting a batter.
Gray pitched the sixth inning in relief. She allowed no runs on no hits.