The Andalusia Lady Bulldogs (2-7) battled back, but lost 7-5 to the defending 1A state champions Brantley Lady Bulldogs Monday night at home.

 

The game remained scoreless after one inning was complete, and Andalusia starting pitcher Tessa Walker was off to a good start.

 

Brantley took the lead in the top of the second when two runs came across on an error. The visiting Lady Bulldogs got another pair of run off a single, and were out front of Andalusia 5-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning.

 

Andalusia went down in order in the bottom half of the second inning.

 

The visitors went up 6-0 in the top of the third inning with a RBI double, but shortstop Emily Terry ended the inning with a leaping grab on a line drive that saved a run from scoring.

 

Andalusia was set down in order again the next half inning, but did threaten with a deep drive off the bat of Haley Snider.

 

Walker only allowed one hit in the top of the fourth inning, and was starting to pick up steam heading into the second half of the game.

 

Haley Harper led off the home half of the fourth inning with a line drive base hit back up the middle of the diamond, but was erased on a fielder’s choice one batter later.

 

Andalusia got their first run of the contest when Merikal McCaskill drove in Terry with a double over the head of the center fielder.

 

The home squad continued to battle back in the inning, and Zaria Jones cut the score in half by plating McCaskill and Terry on a two-out double.

 

Andalusia trailed 6-3 heading into the fifth inning.

 

Walker responded with a three-up-three-down top of the fifth to keep the score were it was.

 

Snider reached with a one-out double, and Harper came through with RBI double to cut Brantley’s lead down to 6-4.

 

Terry drove in Harper with a two-out single, and the home team only trailed by one heading into the sixth inning.

 

Walker retired the first two batters in the top of the sixth inning before giving up a two-out single.

 

No harm was down though, as Walker got the next batter to ground out to end the top of the sixth.

 

Brantley brought in a new pitcher with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, and she picked up three strikeouts in the bottom of the sixth inning.

 

Brantley added their final run of the contest with a sacrifice hit for an RBI.

 

Andalusia went down in order in the home half of the seventh inning for a 7-5 loss to the Brantley Lady Bulldogs.

 

Harper led the Lady Bulldogs at the plate by going 2-for-4.

 

“We got down 6-0 early on errors,” Lady Bulldogs’ head softball coach Anthony Mikel said. “We battled back and won some innings, but we just couldn’t get it done at the end. I’m very proud of the effort that these girls showed today. They showed resilience by not laying down and fighting to get back in it. We really came together as a team this weekend, and we are starting to show some real progress.”

 

Andalusia will travel to Headland tomorrow to take on the Lady Rams. The game is set to start at 6 p.m.