Softball teams win sub-district titles
By By Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Two of Hartselle’s three Dixie League softball all-star teams have captured sub-district tournament titles and will move on to district competition this week. The other team was in the finals of a sub-district tournament in Tuscumbia Tuesday night and needed just one win to advance to district.
The 7- and 8-year-old Darlings won a berth in district play by shutting out Colbert Heights 24-3 on Saturday in the finals of a sub-district tournament at the Grady and Margie Long Softball Complex. They advanced to the district tournament, which will be played in Decatur beginning Thursday (today).
The 11- and 12-year-old Ponytails advanced to the district tournament by defeating host Muscle Shoals 9-3 in the finals of sub-district action on Saturday. They will go on to compete in a district tournament at Lexington beginning Thursday (today).
The Darlings posted a 23-0 decision against Colbert County and a 25-4 win over Colbert Heights to reach the finals in their sub-district. Tuscumbia also competed in the four-team competition.
The 9- and 10-year-old Angels had to battle back from a 4-1 opening game loss to Brooks to reach the finals of their sub-district. They managed to do that by blanking Central 20-0, shutting out Brooks 6-0 and defeating Tharptown 5-2. In a second game played Monday they whipped unbeaten Tuscumbia 13-l. By defeating Tuscumbia in a second game on Tuesday they would move to the district, which begins Thursday (today) at Underwood in Lauderdale County.
The Darlings’ Laninya Wiggins blasted three over-the-fence homeruns in the competition and six different players had inside-the-park home runs. Wiggins and four of her all-star teammates played on the Hartselle Darlings team that won a state title and competed in the Dixie World Series in North Carolina last season.
The Ponytails reached the finals of the sub-district on the strength of two back-to-back shutouts. They nailed Decatur 10-0 in the first round and blanked Muscle Shoals 10-0 in a second round contest.
They had nine hits in each of the three games and got outstanding pitching from Amberly Anderson, Ashley Boggs, Haley Jared and Riley McClellan.
