Belgreen’s softball season ends in regional tournament

The 2024 season came to an end for the Belgreen High School varsity softball team last week, as the Lady Bulldogs were eliminated during the Class 1A North Regional Tournament held in Florence.

After run-ruling Meek 12-0 in game one of the double-elimination tournament on May 7, the Lady Bulldogs fell to Waterloo 7-3 to drop them into the elimination bracket. The following day, Belgreen defeated Athens Bible School 7-5, but were beaten 5-3 by Cherokee, ending the year for the Lady Bulldogs.

“I think the (regional tournament) was pretty much a mirror image of how our season went,” Belgreen head coach Sander Tverberg said. “When we played well we had every chance to win, and when we didn’t play so well we struggled. So, it was sort of indicative of our season as a whole, but I’m proud of our players and how they played. I felt like they gave it everything they had and played hard.”

The Lady Bulldogs went right to work on Meek, scoring two runs in the opening inning, four more in the third and a final six runs in the fifth to make it 12-0. Belgreen tallied 10 hits, while, in the circle for the Lady Bulldogs, Lily Blackburn allowed just four hits.Hannah Borden, Morgan Vandiver, and Caleigh Lawson each had three RBI in the game.

“I felt like we went in that first day and were prepared for Meek,” Tverberg said. “The players executed and did what was necessary.”

“Against Meek we pitched well, hit well, and it was just an all around good game,” he added.

But things didn’t go Belgreen’s way in the following game a few hours later in the day against Waterloo. The Lady Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the end of the first. Though Belgreen was able to pull two runs back in the second and another run in the third, Waterloo piled on more insurance runs in the fifth and sixth to make it 7-3. Belgreen ended the game with six errors and only two of the seven runs pitcher Hannah Borden allowed were earned.

“We knew coming in against Waterloo it was going to be a hard game,” Tverberg said. “We played them several times this year…so we knew it would be a good game, and Waterloo came in ready to play us. I thought we played pretty well after we made a few too many mistakes. We made some errors that cost us, and we couldn’t get that key hit when we needed it.”

“I still felt like we had a chance to win it, but we just didn’t execute the way we needed to to come back in that game,” he added.

With the loss in game two, the Lady Bulldogs fell into the elimination bracket. One more loss and it would be all over for Belgreen. Tverberg said, however, that the message to the team never changed.

“Our whole thing throughout the season was to just be where your feet are and play the next play. Play the next play and don’t worry about what’s going to happen in the next game or whatever,” Tverberg said. “That was how we approached the season, how we approached the tournament, and the message didn’t change. We just worried about the next play because in the end I think we were as good as anyone else there if we played well.”

Belgreen went into the first game of day two, May 8, against Athens Bible and took care of business with help from a few key plays. Although Belgreen was outhit 10-8 by the Lady Trojans, some key defensive stops and some clutch hits propelled the Lady Bulldogs to the 7-5 victory.

“We came into the second day ready to play that morning against Athens Bible. We made a few mistakes early, but then we fought back,” Tverberg said. “The girls made plays and had some big hits to help us pull it out. Brynn Scott made a huge play at the end of the game to get us out of a jam, a double play to end the game.”

“I thought Lily Blackburn pitched well that morning and gave us a chance, and Morgan Vandiver had a key hit for us,” he added. 

Down 5-3 after four innings, the Lady Bulldogs put up a four spot, highlighted by a go-ahead two RBI single by Vandiver, in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead.

Belgreen’s final game of the tournament and final game of the season was the next one against Cherokee. The Lady Bulldogs, after falling behind 5-0 after the first two innings, didn’t have the juice to pull off the comeback. Belgreen added two runs in the fifth and another run in the sixth, but it wasn’t enough in the end.

“We came out in that first inning and, again, had a few mistakes, and that let Cherokee jump up on us. We just couldn’t fight all the way back, and, again, couldn’t get those key hits,” Tverberg said. “I believe we shut them down after the third inning, but we couldn’t get that key hit to get us over the hump.”

“Give credit to Cherokee because they made a lot of plays, a lot of great defensive plays,” he added. “But I was proud of our girls’ fight and how they didn’t give up. They kept playing the whole game and kept fighting until the very end.”

The loss ended the Lady Bulldogs’ campaign and set their final season record at 19-24-1. Viewing the year as a whole, Tverberg said his team’s final record doesn’t do justice to what the squad accomplished this season.

“We played a very tough schedule this year, and it showed. We played a lot of great teams, a lot of the top teams in Mississippi early in the season. We played Brewer, which is a 5A school, twice,” he said. “So, we played a tough schedule and I think our wins and losses show that, but our kids competed throughout the season, and it’s tough when you’re playing those hard teams and giving it all and you just can’t get over the hump.”

“I was proud of how we played all season, and winning the county tournament for the fourth year in a row was a great, great achievement. Our seniors, in their high school careers, have never lost a county tournament, so we’re proud of how they achieved that,” he added. “And, you know, throughout the season I think they improved and got better playing against some tough competition. I don’t think our record showed, actually, how good we were, but I was proud of them for never quitting, always coming to practice ready to get better.”

Tverberg is looking forward to next year with a fairly young team coming back, but he said Belgreen will miss the four graduating seniors, Lily Blackburn, Hannah Borden, Morgan Vandiver, and Caitlyn Oliver.

“We’re going to miss them and we’re proud of them for how they’ve represented Belgreen in their careers,” he said. “We’re proud of what they’ve accomplished, making it to the regionals each year and winning the county championship four years in a row.”

“I think they were great guides on how to play softball for our younger players, and role models for them, not just on the field but in the classroom,” he added. “They all do great academically and we’re proud of them for showing you can play athletics and still be top of your class.”