Hartselle offense sputters in state softball tournament
MONTGOMERY — Weak hitting and errors plagued Hartselle’s Lady Tigers as they dropped two of the three games they played in state tournament competition at Lagoon Park in Montgomery last week
After winning a 1-0 nail-biter against Moody in the opening round on Thursday morning, they dropped a 9-2 decision to Mortimer Jordan, the defending Class 5A state champions and fell into the loser’s bracket. Then, they came out on the short end of a 1-0 score in an elimination game against Eufaula’s Lady Tigers later the same day.
In the three games combined, the Lady Tigers managed only nine hits and seven of those came against Mortimer Jordan. Eight errors were committed against Mortimer Jordan alone. Three of them came in the first inning and resulted in two unearned runs.
The Lady Tigers ended their season with a 41-21 record and a fifth place tie in the state tournament. North Region champion Athens Lady Golden Eagles went undefeated to win the state title.
Hartselle 1, Moody 0
The Lady Tigers prevailed against Moody thanks to a single run scored in the top half of the sixth inning. Katie Gentle reached first base on a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored after Moody’s second baseman mishandled a hard-hit ground ball hit by Ashley Bonner. Hartselle’s only hit in the game was a single by Alex Paulsen in the first inning.
Breanna Riley pitched all seven innings and was credited with the win. She allowed two hits, struck out 10 and walked three.
Mortimer Jordan 9, Hartselle 2
Eight errors proved costly for the Lady Tigers in their second winner’s bracket game as they fell behind early against Mortimer Jordan and were never able to recover.
Mortimer Jordan opened with a two-run first inning rally, both of which were unearned, scored a single run in the second, two runs in the third, three runs in the fourth and two more in the sixth. Hartselle scored single runs in the first and fifth innings.
Seven Hartselle players had hits. Olivia Golden has a pair of singles, Leah Robinson tripled, Gentle doubled, and Chelsea Bennich, Bonner and Kelsey Starr each singled.
Meaghan Gray was the losing pitchers, She pitched all seven innings,and allowed nine runs on seven hits while striking out three and walking two.
Eufaula 1, Hartselle 0
Hartselle and Eufaula battled on even terms for nine innings before Eufaula came up with the winning run on a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th.
The Lady Tigers had a good opportunity to score a go-ahead run in top of the seventh inning after Bonner reached first on a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Bennich with one out. The threat ended, however, when the next three batters popped up, walked and flied out to center field.
Riley pitched all 10 innings and was tagged with the loss. She allowed only three hits while striking out eight and walking three.
