AREA SOFTBALL TOURNAMENTS: Holly Pond splits with Cleveland, West End; Monday scoring recap

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The Holly Pond Lady Broncos split their first two matchups at the 2A, Area 10 Tournament with Cleveland and West End Monday night. (Nick Griffin/The Cullman Tribune)

Holly Pond 11 – Cleveland 6 (2A, Area 10)

The Lady Broncos jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first and after making it 4-0 in the bottom of the second, they racked up six more runs in the third to take a commanding, 10-1 lead over Cleveland. The Lady Panthers tacked on three runs in the top of the fourth to chip into the lead but were unable to generate enough offense to come from behind and Holly Pond held on to win it 11-6.

Maggie Nail finished the game with three hits and three RBIs and Maycie Black and Samantha Giles each added a pair of hits and RBIs in the win for Holly Pond. Lexie Smith (one hit) drove in a pair of runs and Bai Widner and Ellie Burks each posted a hit and an RBI as well.

West End 5 – Holly Pond 4 (8 innings) (2A, Area 10)

After a pair of scoreless innings, Holly Pond fell behind West End 2-0 in the bottom of the third. After a scoreless fourth inning, the Lady Broncos finally got on the board in the top of the fifth. Maggie Nail blasted a double into center field and Libby Stallings brought her home to score on a sacrifice bunt just one pitch later to make it a 2-1 game.

The Lady Patriots responded with two more runs in the bottom half of the inning to move in front 4-1 going into the sixth. An RBI double by Widner trimmed the lead to 4-2 in the top of the sixth and later in the inning, Widner scored on a sacrifice fly from Maycie Black to make it a 4-3 game.

Ellie Burks drew a walk and Nail singled into center field to give Holly Pond a pair of base runners in the top of the seventh and another sacrifice bunt by Stallings moved them both into scoring position. Just one pitch later, Lexie Smith put a ground ball in play, allowing Burks to score on a fielder’s choice and tie the game at 4 going into the bottom of the seventh. West End was able to move a pair of runners into scoring position, but Holly Pond got out of the jam, and we went into extra innings still knotted at 4.

Unfortunately for the Lady Broncos, they were unable to add any runs in the top of the eighth and the Lady Patriots walked it off in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Holly Pond 5-4.

Nail racked up three hits for the Lady Broncos in the loss. Widner finished with a hit and an RBI and Stallings, Smith and Black each posted RBIs as well.

Holly Pond will return to West End Tuesday at 2 p.m. for a rematch with Cleveland.

Susan Moore 19 – Vinemont 12 (3A, Area 13)

Vinemont’s first matchup of the 3A, Area 13 Tournament was a back-and-forth affair with Susan Moore but unfortunately for the Lady Eagles, the Lady Bulldogs took control in the late innings and ended up defeating Vinemont 19-12.

Susan Moore and Vinemont both lit up the scoreboard in their opening at-bats. The Lady Bulldogs hit an RBI single, and they hit an RBI triple to take an early 2-0 lead. They added another run on a Vinemont error and a passed ball, followed by a two-out RBI single, gave them a quick 5-0 lead. The Lady Eagles quickly responded in their half as a pair of singles and a Susan Moore error loaded the bases with one out. Berkley Gable lined a two-run double to center field to trim it to 5-2, then Mabry Thompson added an RBI groundout and Gable scored on a passed ball to make it a 5-4 game.

The Lady Bulldogs added three more runs in the top of the second on an RBI groundout, a Lady Eagle error, and an RBI single as that pushed their lead to 8-4. Singles by Haley Millwood and Arleigh Thomason put runners on first and second with one out in their half, then a groundout by Angela Harris moved them up to second and third. Emma Dortch blooped a two-run single to right field to bring home both Millwood and Thomason to cut it to 8-6. Susan Moore, though, continued to add to their lead as an RBI single, a passed ball, and an RBI single in the top of the third allowed them to stretch their lead to 11-6.

Vinemont continued to cut into the Susan Moore lead in their half. The Lady Eagles put runners on the corners with one out, then Haley Millwood hit an RBI single to left field to cut it to 11-7. Later on in the inning, Thomason hit an RBI single of her own to left field as well to make it an 11-8 game. After a walk loaded the bases, Dortch hit a two-run single to left field to trim the deficit to just one at 11-10. The Lady Bulldogs added a two-run single in the top of the fourth as that made it a 13-10 game.

Vinemont answered right back in their half. A pair of singles, plus a stolen base, put runners on the corners with one out. Piper Speake moved to second on a passed ball and a suicide squeeze play by Callie Millwood made it a 13-11 game. Haley Millwood followed that up with an RBI single on just the second pitch of the at-bat to trim it to 13-12. The Lady Bulldogs put up a run in the top of the fifth on a Vinemont error as that made it a 14-12 game. They put up three more runs in the top of the sixth on a two-run double and a stolen base to make it 17-12.

Susan Moore continued to pile up the runs as an RBI triple and an RBI single in the top of the seventh gave them a 19-12 lead. The Lady Eagles put a pair of runners on second and third with one out as they looked for a late comeback, but they couldn’t cut into the deficit as they ended up dropping their game to Susan Moore 19-12.

Dortch (four RBIs) and Haley Millwood (two RBIs) each posted four hits in the loss for Vinemont. Gable finished with a pair of hits and two RBIs. Thomason added a pair of hits and an RBI. Thompson and Callie Millwood each collected a hit and an RBI in the contest. Speake added a pair of hits, while Brinley Pair and Harris each chipped in with a hit of their own. 

Vinemont will take on the loser of J.B. Pennington and Susan Moore Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Meek 6 – Addison 0 (1A, Area 14)

After a pair of scoreless innings to start the game, the Lady Tigers plated four runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-0 lead and tacked on two more in the fifth and sixth to secure a 6-0 win over Addison.

Kadence Cox finished with a pair of hits and an RBI in the win and Marlee Mosley and Madison Smith each added a hit and an RBI as well. Mosley tossed seven shutout innings for Meek, allowing six hits and racking up 13 strikeouts.

Lainey Evans posted three hits for Addison in the loss and Haley Walker added a pair of hits as well.

Decatur Heritage 17 – Addison 7 (1A, Area 14)

Addison and Decatur Heritage were knotted at 3 runs apiece after three innings but the Lady Eagles were able to hang seven runs on the board in the top of the fourth to begin pulling away with a 17-7 win.

Kaylie Calloway and Dacey Baker each finished with a hit and an RBI in the loss and Madisyn Carter and Ayden Stewart each added a hit for the Lady Bulldogs.

Athens Bible 5 – Meek 1 (1A, Area 14)

The Lady Tigers fell to Athens Bible in their second game of the day 5-1 and will return to Athens Bible Tuesday at 3 p.m. to face Decatur Heritage with a spot in the area tournament finals on the line.

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