Belgreen, Russellville and Tharptown all go 1-1 on first day of regional tournament
The Belgreen, Russellville and Tharptown High School varsity softball teams all saw split results on the opening day of the AHSAA North Regional tournament in Florence on Wednesday.
Belgreen and Russellville won their first games but dropped their second games in the winner’s bracket; Tharptown, after losing its tournament opener, came back to win in the loser’s bracket and keep its season alive.
Russellville, competing in Class 5A, started off the day with a contest against Arab at 9 a.m. Led by a five-inning shutout performance from Taitum Bishop in the circle, the Lady Golden Tigers kept the Lady Knights bottled up all the way until the seventh inning and won by a final of 8-2.
RHS opened up the scoring in the second inning, pushing one run across thanks to a Kaylee Suggs RBI single that scored Khristyan Huerta. The Lady Golden Tigers then tacked on a second run in the fourth via a Chloe James single before Russellville dropped five runs in the fifth. Alexia Groce’s two-run single scored Brandtley Benford and Bri McCulloch, an Arab error added another run and then Suggs’ RBI liner to center scored Sadie Odom to make it 7-0.
Russellville’s final run of the ballgame came an inning later when McCulloch’s sacrifice fly to right field drove in Ticelee Gholston.
Arab broke the shutout with its final three outs, scoring runs on an error and an RBI single but didn’t have enough offense to threaten a comeback attempt.
Groce, Odom and Suggs all had multi-RBI games for RHS while Bishop did her job in the circle. Bishop pitched five shutout innings and struck out seven batters. Suggs relieved Bishop for the final two innings, allowing two unearned runs off two hits and had one strikeout.
Russellville’s second game of the day, which began around 1:45 p.m., saw the Lady Golden Tigers lose to No. 10-ranked Ardmore 14-3 and drop down into the loser’s bracket.
Ardmore piled on all of its 14 runs in four innings before Russellville was able to respond too little too late in the bottom of the fifth. Gholston accounted for all three of Russellville’s runs, driving in Blevyn Sappington and MacKenzie Wright with a two-run single before coming around to score herself on an RBI double by Bishop.
Bishop took the loss in the circle after surrendering nine earned runs in three innings of work. Suggs finished out the final two innings for RHS, allowing five earned runs off five hits.
The Lady Golden Tigers will try to stave off elimination when playing Scottsboro in their next game of the tournament. First pitch of that contest is set for 9 a.m. Thursday.
Like Russellville, Belgreen (Class 2A) also started its North Regional tournament with a comfortable win in its opener. The Lady Bulldogs, starting just before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, shutout their first opponent Winston County 11-0.
Belgreen pitcher Zoey Blaxton was the star of the show. Pitching all five innings, Blaxton allowed just four hits and finished with 10 strikeouts in the blowout victory.
Offensively, BHS scored three runs in both the first and second innings before really cracking the game open with a five-run fourth inning. Second baseman Kendra Williams led BHS with two RBIs and a team-high three runs scored after going 1-for-1 and being hit-by-pitch twice.
The Lady Bulldogs’ second game of the day, played against Lexington at around 3:15 p.m., saw their fortunes turn, however.
After taking a 5-0 lead after the first two innings—a two-run Jemma Moore home run highlighted BHS’ initial offensive burst—Lexington stormed back to plate three runs in the third and six in the fourth to take what would prove to be a final 9-6 lead.
Six errors doomed the Lady Bulldogs as only one of Lexington’s nine runs was earned. Blaxton, after getting the win in Belgreen’s first game of the day, was stuck with the loss after three and two-thirds innings of work.
The result will set up a Franklin County showdown between Belgreen and Tharptown in an elimination game Thursday morning at 10:45 a.m.
Tharptown’s road to that elimination game began after a tournament-opening loss to Lamar County 9-3.
Tharptown’s Ashlynn Abbott (#17) rounds third base during the Lady Wildcats’ game vs. Sulligent at the North Regional tournament in Florence. (Photo courtesy Kyle Parmley)
The Lady Wildcats fell behind 8-0 before finally getting on the board with a three-run fifth inning. A Lamar County error allowed the first THS run to come across before back-to-back RBI singles by Alyssa Fischer and Cadence Kennedy made it a five run game. Unfortunately for THS, it wasn’t enough to pull back within reach of Lamar County, who added a final insurance run in the sixth.
Backs now against the wall after an opening defeat, Tharptown responded to win its second game of the day against Sulligent 6-5.
Using a four-run top of the first to give themselves an early advantage, the Lady Wildcats weathered a 5-1 run by Sulligent that tied things up before scoring the game-winning run in the sixth inning off an RBI single by Kennedy.
Kennedy finished the game 2-for-4 with a team-high two RBIs and added one run. In the circle was Fischer who pitched a complete game. Fischer’s five earned runs allowed came off eight hits and she struck out five batters.
Once again, either Belgreen or Tharptown will be eliminated after the two play each other Thursday morning. All games are being played at the Florence Sportsplex.
For more information, go to AHSAA.com. You can view North Regional brackets by clicking HERE.