EAST LAWRENCE, Ala. – After falling to West Morgan to start out this year’s Class 4A Area 13 tournament on Monday, Good Hope rolled past East Lawrence (Monday) and knocked off Danville (Tuesday) in their loser’s bracket games to get another crack at the Lady Rebels in the area championship game. It was close from start to finish, and it ended up going into extra innings. West Morgan, though, was able to score the winning run in extras, as they would go on to defeat Good Hope, 6-5, to take home this year’s area title.
The Lady Raiders struck first in their opening at-bats. Kylee Smith and Campbell Koch hit back-to-back one-out singles, and Smith moved to third on a fly ball, then an error during the play allowed her to score to give Good Hope the early lead. The Lady Rebels, though, would respond in their half. Lady Raider starter Molly Benefield hit Maddie Leston and Melea Harris to start out the inning, then a ground ball by Chasity Rikard moved them over to third and second, respectively. Hatleigh White hit a two-run single to right field to put West Morgan up, 2-1.
After a scoreless second inning, the Lady Raiders got the lead right back in the top of the third. Lizzy Steed reached on an error to lead off the inning, and Smith drew a walk. Later that inning, Benefield helped herself out in a big way by hitting a two-run double to left field to give Good Hope a 3-2 lead. West Morgan got one of those runs back in their half. Harris led off the inning with a walk and later came around to score on an RBI single by Payson Terry to tie it up at three. It remained tied going into the top of the fifth.
Koch reached on an error to lead off the inning and moved up to second during the play. Gracie Garmon reached on a fielder’s choice, then she moved up to second on a passed ball and to third on a ground ball. Another passed ball allowed Garmon to score to put Good Hope up, 4-3, but once again, the Lady Rebels tied it up in their half. Terry led off the inning with a single, then with two outs, Tensley Suggs’ RBI single drove in Terry to knot it up at four.
Good Hope looked to break the tie in the top of the seventh. Smith reached on an infield single to lead off the inning, then a sacrifice bunt by Koch moved Smith up to second. Gracie Garmon hit an RBI single up the middle to give the Lady Raiders a 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, as they were three outs away from playing West Morgan a second time for the title. Benefield got the first two batters out to start out the inning, but White drew a walk, and Alyssa Cleveland reached on an error to put runners at first and second with two outs. Terry’s RBI single up the middle brought home White to tie it up at five, and the game would be decided in extra innings.
Rikard and Benefield pitched lights out in the eighth inning, and Rikard retired Good Hope in order in the ninth inning. The Lady Rebels got a two-out rally started in their half. Rikard drew a walk, and Preslee Coburn came in to run for her. White quickly ended the game for West Morgan, as she hit the game-winning RBI double to left field to give the Lady Rebels a 6-5 win over the Lady Raiders in a wild extra-inning contest.
Benefield finished with a pair of hits and two RBIs for Good Hope, and Gracie Garmon collected a hit and an RBI of her own in the game.
The Lady Raiders have qualified for Regionals, and they will take the field next week against an opponent that’s TBD.
