PRICEVILLE, Ala. – Good Hope and Hanceville traveled to Priceville for this year’s 4A, Area 13 Tournament Saturday and after falling in their opening matchups, the county rivals ended up meeting in an elimination game to wrap up day one. Hanceville dropped a tight opening game with East Lawrence 9-8 and Good Hope fell to West Morgan in its first game 5-0 but the Lady Raiders bounced back with an 11-1 win over the Lady Bulldogs to keep their postseason hopes alive. Good Hope will return to Priceville Monday for another elimination game at noon.
West Point was also back in action at the 5A, Area 12 Tournament Saturday. After splitting their matchups with Hayden and Fairview Friday, the Lady Warriors returned to Springville for a rematch against Hayden. West Point jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning but couldn’t keep up with the Wildcats down the stretch and the Lady Warriors’ season ended with a 12-6 loss.
Saturday was also a big day for the Lady Tigers of Meek. After defeating Decatur Heritage, Meek faced Athens Bible in the 1A, Area 14 finals and took game two 8-6 to claim the area title.
Good Hope 11 – Hanceville 1
The Lady Raiders loaded the bases in the bottom of the first with singles from Kylee Smith, Campbell Koch and Haley Lay and after Molly Benefield put one in play later in the inning, an error allowed three runs to score put Good Hope in front 3-0 going into the second. An RBI double off the bat of Lizzy Steed made it a 4-0 game in the second but Hanceville was able to trim the lead to 4-1 on a double steal in the top of the third.
Benefield doubled in the bottom of the third to plate two more runs and stretch the lead to 6-1. In the fourth, Steed scored on a passed ball, Lay barreled up an RBI single and she and Carley Adams scored on an error later in the inning to give the Lady Raiders a 10-1 lead.
Back to back doubles from Steed and Smith capped an 11-1 win for Good Hope in the fifth inning.
Lay (one RBI) finished with three hits in the win and Smith (one RBI), Steed (one RBI) and Molly Johnson each posted two hits. Benefield (one hit) added a pair of RBIs.
Hayden 12 – West Point 6
A 2-run bomb off the bat of Brinlee Phillips gave West Point a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and an RBI single from Cabri Blackwood made it 3-0 going into the bottom half of the inning. After a scoreless second inning, Hayden played four runs in the third to pull ahead 4-3.
Kylee Quinn drove in Macayla Wilkins with a sac fly to tie things up at 4 in the top of the fifth, but the Wildcats responded with another run in the bottom of the fifth to retake a 5-4 lead. Hayden’s offense erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 12-4 game and the Lady Warriors were able to put a pair of runs on the board in the final frame, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the late lead and West Point’s season came to an end with a 12-6 loss.
Wilkins posted three hits in the loss and Phillips added a pair of hits and RBIs. Macie Brown (one RBI) finished with two hits and Quinn (one hit) drove in a pair of RBIs. Blackwood added a hit and an RBI for West Point.
Meek 5 – Decatur Heritage 4
The Meek Lady Tigers knocked off Addison, 10-2, in the opening round of the Class 1A, Area 14 tournament on Friday. They faced off against Decatur Heritage on Saturday with a shot to move on to the championship game.
Meek struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Chloe Gilliland reached on an error, and Carmyn Daughtery hit a double to put runners on second and third with one out. On the first pitch, Annabelle Collins drove in a pair of runs on a single up the middle to give the Lady Tigers a 2-0 lead. A two-run single by Decatur Heritage tied the game up at two in the top of the third.
Meek broke the tie in their half. Gilliland hit a one-out double and came around to score on an RBI single by Daughtery to give them a 3-2 lead. The Lady Eagles tied the game up at three in the top of the fourth, but the Lady Tigers took a 4-3 lead in their half on an RBI single off the bat of Laney Phillips. Once again, Decatur Heritage tied the game up at four in the top of the fifth.
The score remained the same until the seventh inning, and Meek looked to end things in their half. Addisyn Williams reached on an infield single to lead off the inning and stole second. An error by the third baseman allowed Williams to score the game-winning run and give Meek the 5-4 win over Decatur Heritage to move on the area championship game.
Collins finished with a pair of hits and two RBIs for Meek. Daughtery (three hits) and Phillips (one hit) each drove in a pair of runs in the win for the Lady Tigers. Marlee Mosley went the distance for Meek, giving up seven hits, four runs (two earned), walking two, and striking out six.
Athens Bible 14 – Meek 8 (Area Finals Game One)
Meek got on the scoreboard in its opening at-bats against Athens Bible. Williams drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a passed ball to give them a 1-0 lead. The Lady Trojans countered in their half, scoring four runs on a two-run double and an error to take a 4-1 lead. Marlee Mosley led off the second for Meek with a solo home run to cut it to 4-2. Gilliland scored on an error, and Mosley lined an RBI double to center field to tie the game up at four.
Athens Bible batted around in their half, as they put up eight runs to take a 12-4 lead. The Lady Tigers trimmed the deficit to seven at 12-5 in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Mosley, but the Lady Trojans got a two-run triple in their half to make it 14-5. Meek quickly loaded up the bases to start out the seventh, and Collins ended up scoring on a double play to cut it to 14-6. Three batters later, Williams hit a two-run single to right field to make it a 14-8 game. That’s as close as they would get the rest of the way, as they ended up falling to Athens Bible in game one 14-8.
Mosley led the way for Meek with three hits and three RBIs. Williams added a hit and two RBIs, while Phillips collected a hit and an RBI in the loss.
Meek 8 – Athens Bible 6 (Second Area Championship Game)
The winner of this game would end up taking home the Class 1A, Area 14 championship. Just like in their last game against Athens Bible, Meek got off to a quick start offensively in the bottom of the first. Williams hit a leadoff single, and an error allowed her to move on up to third. Gilliland hit the first pitch she saw up the middle to give the Lady Tigers a 1-0 lead. She later scored on a passed ball to make it 2-0. The Lady Trojans cut it to 2-1 on an RBI single in the top of the third.
Meek got that run back in their half. Williams hit a leadoff triple and came around to score on an RBI single by Gilliland to give them a 3-1 lead. Athens Bible made it a 3-2 game on an error in the top of the fourth, but Kadence Cox scored on an error in the Lady Tigers’ half of the fourth to make it a 4-2 game. The Lady Trojans scored three times in the top of the fifth to grab a 5-4 lead. Meek tied the game up in their half on a passed ball, and they quickly looked to break that tie in their next at-bats.
Three straight singles loaded up the bases in the sixth. With one out, Williams lined a two-run single to right field to give them a 7-5 lead. Two pitches later, an error allowed Peyton Johnson to cross the plate to make it 8-5. Athens Bible made it 8-6 in the top of the seventh, but Mosley induced a pop out to end the game, as the Lady Tigers take home the area championship with an 8-6 win over the Lady Trojans.
Gilliland (three RBIs) and Williams (two RBIs) each finished with three hits for Meek in the win. Mosley gave up nine hits, six runs (three earned), walked one, and struck out one in her complete game effort for the Lady Tigers.
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