Russellville softball clinches North Regional berth after runner-up finish in area tournament

The Russellville High School varsity softball team (26-26-1) is headed back to the North Regional tournament for the third straight season.

In the Class 5A Area 14 tournament, the Lady Golden Tigers, after splitting games versus West Point and Lawrence County on Monday, eliminated the Lady Warriors Tuesday afternoon before falling to the top-seeded Lady Red Devils in the championship round. The runner-up finish clinched for RHS a spot in the upcoming regional to be played in Florence starting May 13.

“I’m very proud of the girls and the growth that they’ve shown this year to get us to this point,” Russellville head coach Rick Lawson said. “It’s been tremendous and fun to watch.”

Propelled by a four-run third inning in its first game of the tournament, Russellville defeated West Point 7-2. Three RBI singles by Ticelee Gholston, Khristyan Huerta, and Alexia Groce made it 3-0 before pinch runner Brandtley Benford scored from third to make it a four run game.

The Lady Golden Tigers would go on to add two runs in the fifth off an RBI triple by Taitum Bishop and an LCHS error. Gholston’s RBI groundout in the sixth rounded out Russellville’s scoring.

Fortunes turned, however, for RHS in its second game Monday. The Lady Golden Tigers were defeated 13-6 after allowing a seven-run first inning by the Lady Red Devils. Lawrence County scored seven in the first innings, single runs in three other innings and then capped the game with a three-run sixth.

A majority of Russellville’s six runs came in the third and seventh innings. Down 8-1 in the top of the third inning, the Lady Golden Tigers pounced for three runs off an RBI single by Huerta and a two-run homer by Bishop to cut Lawrence County’s lead in half. RHS’ final two runs were added by a bases-loaded walk drawn by Huerta and a sacrifice fly by Bishop.

Losing its second game, Russellville dropped back down to the losers bracket of the tournament on Tuesday but was able to dispatch West Point again, 5-4.

Russellville drew first blood in the opening inning of play via an RBI groundout by Groce. But Lawrence County answered with four unanswered runs in the top half of the second, third and fourth innings.

The Lady Golden Tigers then responded themselves with four more runs of their own in the home half of the fourth and fifth. In the fourth inning, Sadie Odom cut RHS’ deficit to one run by smashing a two-run homer to make it a 4-3 ballgame.

“West Point is a really solid team and we’ve been fortunate to have a lot of luck against them the last couple of years. When you play a team so many times they learn your tendencies as much as you learn theirs,” Lawson said. “West Point had us on the ropes in that elimination game, but down 4-1 Sadie Odom hit her second home run of the season—in fact, it was the second home run of her career. We got the momentum back at that point there.”

In the fifth, Ticelee Gholston got on base and Bri McCulloch moved her over to second via a sacrifice bunt before Bishop came to the plate and reversed the advantage.

“It won’t show up as a big play in the scorebook but Bri McCulloch’s sac bunt to move Ticelee to second was a big play because we had the three-, four-, five-hole hitters coming up after that. Fortunately, Taitum Bishop hit a monster two-run home run to give us the lead and from there we kind of took over. Thankfully we were able to close it out,” Lawson said.

Russellville’s next task was to take down Lawrence County. But the No. 5-ranked Lady Red Devils were not to be denied. In fact, LCHS dominated the Lady Golden Tigers by a final of 17-0, the Lady Red Devils ending the game after four innings.

Nevertheless, the Lady Golden Tigers secured the second-place finish in the tournament necessary to continue their season. Up next is the North Regional where Russellville is set to face Arab in its first game.

Lawson told the Franklin Free Press that the Lady Golden Tigers began walking the path that led them to this year’s regional last season. The development this group has shown since 2025, he said, along with the bond the players have developed will, he believes, help the Lady Golden Tigers make an impact this postseason.

“This journey to the regional started last year when we made it (in 2025) with a very young team. And by all standards, we still have a very young team this year. We have no seniors this year. So we’ve been able to build a great relationship, the girls trust one another, they believe in one another,” Lawson said. “Last year we won 12 ballgames and it was a real growing year; this year we have 26 wins so we’ve more than double our wins from last season.”

“We have shown and proven to ourselves that we’re never too far ahead and we’re never too far behind. When the game gets going, if we can keep it close we always believe we’ve got a shot. The girls really believe in that and in each other,” he added. “This is a fun group to watch, and I’m still excited about this year because I believe we have a chance to make a run at it and make it to the state tournament. From there it’s just whoever can put together a few good days will have a great opportunity to win a (Blue) Map. Right now we’re taking it one step at a time, but our girls believe.”

Russellville’s North Regional-opening contest against Arab, to be played at the Florence Sportsplex, is set to start at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 13.