WEST POINT, Ala. – West Point’s Warrior Battle Tournament got underway Friday afternoon and it was opening day for the Lady Warriors. West Point was home for their tournament matchups Friday night, tying Priceville 3-3 and blasting Columbia 16-0, while Cullman’s baseball and softball teams were competing in Gulf Shores and at the John Caroll Classic respectively.
West Point 3 – Priceville 3 (varsity softball)
A 2-run homer in the top of the first gave Priceville an early lead against the Lady Warriors but Nikki Tyree tied the game in the bottom of the second with a 2-run double. Gracie Thompson scored on a fielder’s choice in the next at-bat to give West Point a 3-2 lead but after a scoreless third inning, the Lady Bulldogs scored on a fielder’s choice in the top of the fourth to tie the game at 3. The Lady Warriors were held scoreless in the bottom half of the fourth and because the tournament’s game time limit had expired, the game ended in a 3-3 tie.
Tyree led the way for West Point at the plate with two RBIs while Lexi Shadix, Carlie Wilkins, Thompson and Kayleigh Haynie added hits as well. Wilkins got the start on the mound for the Lady Warriors and struck out nine batters in just four innings of work, allowing three runs on three hits.
West Point 16 – Columbia 0 (varsity softball)
After an average offensive performance against Priceville in their first game, the Lady Warriors flashed the bats in game two. Back to back RBI singles by Lexi Shadix and Carlie Wilkins made it 2-0 in the top of the first and Molly Pendley doubled into center field to stretch the lead to 3-0. An error allowed Braelee Quinn to come around and score run number four and an RBI double off the bat of Kylee Quinn scored Nikki Tyree to make it 5-0. West Point wasn’t done in the top of the first and after Bethany Minck and Bailey Brock drew walks to load the bases, Shadix knocked a grand slam over the center field fence to blow it open and give the Lady Warriors a 9-0 lead.
Pendley homered to keep the momentum going in the top of the second and make it a 10-0 game and later in the inning, Brock drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead to 11-0. Minck walked just five pitches later to make it 12-0. A hard ground ball off the bat of Shadix forced a Columbia error and Tyree and Brock both came around to score and give the Lady Warriors a 14-0 lead in the top of the second. Another RBI single by Wilkins scored Minck to add to the lead and Shadix scored on another error to give West Point a 16-0 lead going into the bottom half of the second.
Shadix racked up seven RBIs in the win while Wilkins and Pendley each drove in a pair of runs. Kylee Quinn, Brock and Minck each collected RBIs as well and on the mound, Wilkins tossed a shutout inning, allowing no hits and striking out three while Braelee Quinn threw a shutout inning of her own, allowing just one hit and striking a batter out.
Cullman 7 – Mountain Brook 2 (varsity softball)
Mountain Brook built a 2-0 lead in the top of the first with back to back RBI singles, but Cullman responded in the bottom half of the inning. An RBI single from Carlie Burnham brought Savannah Davis home to make it 2-1 and a 3-run bomb off the bat of Shana Guest gave the Lady Bearcats a 4-2 advantage.
Cullman added to its lead in the bottom of the second with a 2-run homer from McKenna Kline that made it a 6-2 game and a solo shot by Davis stretched the lead to 7-2. The Lady Bearcats held on to win it by a score of 7-2 in three innings after the tournament’s time limit expired.
Guest (one homerun) led the team with three RBIs, Kline (one homerun) added two RBIs, Davis (two hits and a homerun) collected an RBI and Burnham (one hit) drove in a run as well. Sarah Herfurth and Aiden Adcock each added a hit for Cullman in the win.
Adcock tossed two innings for the Lady Bearcats, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out one batter. Kylie Stacner pitched an inning for Cullman as well, allowing just one hit and collecting a strikeout.
Springville 2 – Cullman 0 (varsity softball)
After a scoreless first inning, an RBI double gave Springville a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Three strikeouts from the Lady Bearcats quickly ended the bottom half of the inning and after two more scoreless innings, an RBI single made it a 2-0 game in the top of the fifth. Cullman was unable to get on the board in the bottom of the fifth and time expired to seal a 2-0 loss for the Lady Bearcats.
A Savannah Davis single in the bottom of the fourth was the only hit of the night for Cullman. Aiden Adcock got the start on the mound and allowed just one earned run on six hits.
Daphne 5 – Cullman 4 (varsity baseball)
A leadoff double by Brady Patterson got the Bearcats on base as soon as their game against Daphne started Friday night and after a bunt single from A.J. Miller and a walk by Brennen Norton, Ben Hollis laced one toward first base and an error made it a 1-0 game. A bases-loaded walk by Hayden Stancil stretched the lead to 2-0 in the top of the first and after Jaylen Hughey put one in play, a fielder’s choice allowed Norton to score and make it 3-0.
Norton added to the lead in the top of the second when he scored Patterson from third base with a sac fly RBI but Daphne was able to get the run back in the bottom half of the inning with a solo homerun that trimmed the lead to 4-1. The Trojans were able to seize some momentum in the third. An infield single cut the lead to 4-2 and after scoring on a rundown and doubling to left field, the game was tied at 4.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Daphne was able to score on another rundown to take a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fifth. After a scoreless sixth, the ‘Cats went into the top of the seventh needing a run to tie the game and got the tying run on first base but couldn’t get any closer than that and they fell to the Trojans 5-4.
Patterson and Miller each finished with a pair of hits for Cullman in the loss and Hughey (one hit), Norton, Hollis and Stancil each drove in a run. Austin Hurt got the start on the mound for the Bearcats and allowed three earned runs on four hits while striking out six in three innings of work. Hunter Dahlke tossed one and two thirds innings, allowing just one run and striking out three and J.T. Blackwood came on to throw one and a third as well, striking out three and allowing no hits.
Cullman will be back in action Saturday to play Fairhope at 11 a.m.
Other Friday scores:
Good Hope 5 – Hanceville 3 (varsity softball)
East Lawrence 11 – Hanceville 0 (varsity softball)
Good Hope 8 – East Lawrence 2 (varsity softball)
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