GULF SHORES — Opp and Straughn will meet again Saturday at the Class 3A South Regional Softball Tournament.

The Lady Bobcats and Lady Tigers won their first two games in the winner’s bracket to advance to the bracket’s finals.

OHS defeated Geneva 5-0, and Straughn beat Montgomery Catholic 8-5 in a comeback during their second games to advance.

Both local schools will play at 9:30 a.m. A win in the winner’s bracket finals garners a berth to the state tournament next week. The loser falls to the bottom bracket, where it will have the chance to fight for the No. 2 seed.

In their first-round games, the Lady Tigers and Bobcats won with ease. Opp demolished T.R. Miller 13-2, and Straughn romped W.S. Neal 13-0.

 

Straughn 8, Montgomery Catholic 5

Straughn 13, W.S. Neal 0

The Lady Tigers erased a four-run deficit and outscored Montgomery Catholic 8-1 in their second-round victory over MCA.

SHS cut the game to 4-3 in the fourth inning with two outs, tied the game at 4-all in the fifth and pushed two runs across later on an error to take a lead they would never break.

SHS coach Trent Taylor said the girls played like veterans out on the field of play at the Gulf Shores Sports Complex.

“That showed a lot of maturity out of a bunch that’s not real old,” Taylor said about the comeback. “Then, not only that, it was two outs to start that inning and they got the three runs to cut it to 4-3.”

SHS went on to score its two winning runs in the top of the sixth after a run down between third base and home.

Molly Stewart and Paige Taylor got the scoring going in the fourth by crossing home on a single and passed ball, respectively.

Hayden Willis later scored on Payton Mitchell’s single to left to give Straughn its third run.

After tying the game in the fifth, Straughn pushed across two runs on an error by the shortstop.

The Lady Tigers scored their final two runs after Brentley Armstrong was almost caught in a run down between third and home. Armstrong later scored and Katelyn Kinsaul later scored on the tag attempt.

Willis allowed five runs on nine hits in seven innings to get the win.

Kinsaul went 1-for-2; Stewart went 2-for-4 with a double; Taylor went 2-for-4; Kristen Peavey went 2-for-4; and Armstrong went 1-for-3 to lead SHS.

In the Lady Tigers’ 13-0 win over W.S. Neal, Taylor hit an RBI single to bring the game to 6-0 in the top of the second inning.

Willis scored to make it 7-0, and Laken Harris added a two-run triple to give SHS a 11-0 lead after the third inning.

In the top of the fifth, Stewart, who has been on fire lately at bat, skewered a two-run triple for a 13-0 lead.

Stewart went 3-for-4 with two triples; and Kinsaul went 2-for-4 with two singles to lead SHS.

 

Opp 5, Geneva 0

Opp 13, T.R. Miller 2

Opp’s Savannah Gerber told her teammates Friday morning over breakfast that she was going to hit a home run because of the biscuit she was about to eat.

There must have been something magical about the biscuit, as Gerber hit two inside-the-park home runs to lead the Lady Bobcats in their first two games of the regional tournament.

Gerber scored the first run in Opp’s 5-0 victory over Geneva to get the ball rolling in the first inning.

Geneva pitcher Rita Pena did a good job of keeping the Lady Bobcats at bay, quelling their usual hitting spree.

OHS saw an opening later in the game during the fifth inning, where Lady Bobcats coach Jimmy Reeves said the girls made Pena throw a lot of pitches.

“She was still striking them down,” Reeves said. “She’s a heck of a pitcher and she was mowing us down. I’m not sure we would’ve won a 1-0 game.”

The Lady Bobcats took advantage of the ball scorching over the plate by putting together key hits in the top of the seventh, where they scored four runs to get the win.

Laiken Free led off with a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball and made it to third on a sac-bunt from Octavia Thompson.

Tori Reisnour then hit a hard single to score Free on an 0-and-2 count, and then Courtney Chatham reached on a fielder’s choice to put runners on first and second.

Two runs later scored on Anna Harrelson’s RBI double, and an error, which sent Tori Morgan home on the overthrow.

Clean-up hitter Cayla Hughes then connected on an RBI single to score the final run.

Behind Opp’s potent defense were three pitchers — Katlynn Schively, Chatham and Harrelson — who wrote a new chapter of pitching for the Lady Bobcats.

Schively and Chatham combined for a no-hitter in six total innings, and Harrelson held GHS to ground outs in the seventh to garner the win.

“What a solid game,” Reeves said. “Our pitching was outstanding. It has been all year, but when you get three of them to do a great job like that, that’s pretty remarkable.”

In Opp’s 13-2 win over T.R. Miller, Gerber went 2-for-3 with her first inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning; Kelley Pierce went 2-for-3 with two singles; Free went 2-for-4 with two singles; Thompson went 2-for-4 with two singles; and Chatham had two singles.

Opp scored three runs in the first, one run in the second, five runs in the third and four runs in the fourth in the win.

TRM led the game on a 1-0 lead before Opp broke it open in the bottom half of the first inning.

Harrelson and Paige Johnson had consecutive RBIs in the bottom of the third on the Lady Bobcats’ way to a 10-2 lead.

Gerber’s home run was a three-run homer in the fourth.