Lady ‘Cats fall in area tournament

Published 12:00 am Saturday, May 2, 2015

Bailea Rickett has done an outstanding job on the mound since taking over for injured Lily Ritzell.

Bailea Rickett has done an outstanding job on the mound since taking over for injured Lily Ritzell.

The Florala Lady Wildcats’ season came to end on Friday night in the 1A, Area 2 tournament in Brantley with an 8-5 loss to Kinston, and a 10-0 loss to Brantley.

 

Kinston 8 Florala 4

 

Kinston used a big sixth inning to get past the Lady Wildcats 8-4 in the first round of the tournament.

 

The Lady Bulldogs went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning when Callie Weeks scored off an error by the Lady Wildcats.

 

In to the top of the second, the Lady Wildcats got a one-out double from Grace Cox, but two straight strikeouts from KHS starting pitcher Kelli Mack ended the threat.

 

Weeks put the Lady Bulldogs up 2-0 with a sacrifice fly that allowed Mosley Jacobs to score from third.

 

In the top of the fourth, Lily Ritzel led off with a walk, and later scored on a two-out pop up to the KHS second baseman, who lost the ball in the sun. The score left the Lady Wildcats trailing 2-1.

 

KHS added another run in the bottom of the fourth when Emily Free drove in Baylee Holley with a triple to the fence in right center.

 

The Lady Wildcats put together a two-out rally to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth.

 

Haley Carnley walked with two outs, and came around to score on a double from Hannah Goodwin.

 

Bailea Rickett followed with a single, and Ritzel drove in Goodwin and Rickett to give the Lady Wildcats a 4-3 lead.

 

The Lady Bulldogs rallied back in the bottom of the sixth plating five runs on three hits, two errors and a walk.

 

The Lady Wildcats went down in order in the top of the sixth.

 

KHS went on to beat Brantley 5-4, sending the defending state champions into the losers’ bracket to face the Lady Wildcats.

 

Brantley 10 Florala 0

 

In game two, Rickett remained in the pitching circle for the Lady Wildcats, and kept the Wildcats in the game until four run fifth inning from Brantley took the wind out the Lady Wildcats’ sails.

 

BHS took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third, when Alex Wilcox crushed a two-run home run with two outs in the inning.

 

The Lady Bulldogs added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to go up 4-0.

 

In the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Bulldogs added four more runs to take an 8-0 lead.

 

Syndee Bryan drove in Alex Wilcox with a single, and then Kassidy Wilcox drove in Bryan and Jessica Hermeling with a single.

 

Leanna Johnson doubled home Kassidy Wilcox to put the home squad on top 8-0.

 

In the bottom of the sixth, Alex Wilcox led off with a solo shot over scoreboard in left field to put the Lady Bulldogs up 9-0. Bryan scored the final run off of an error.

 

“I’m extremely proud of these girls,” Lady Wildcats’ head coach Pat Maddox said. “They have overcome every kind of obstacle you can imagine. We lost our starting pitcher a while back, and Bailea has done a tremendous job in her place. These girls have worked so hard this year, and they deserve better.”