Lady Bulldogs Avenge Earlier Loss To Sneads

By Clint Cox

The two softball squads in the county with the best records hooked up last Friday night for a rematch as Marianna traveled to Sneads. The Lady Pirates had nipped the Lady Bulldogs in Marianna a couple of weeks ago with an extra innings (11) win. The rematch was on the Lady Pirates home turf and the first five innings of the game almost mirrored the earlier matchup in that it was another low scoring contest.

Hali Stout was once again in the circle for Marianna while Sneads countered with Aleisha Edenfield. Sneads pitcher Karissa Childs, who had battled Stout two weeks ago, was out due to being sick. The game was scoreless through the first two innings, although each squad had chances to score. Both teams loaded the bases in the second inning, only to see the other team’s pitching and defense prevent any runs crossing the plate. Marianna scratched a run in the third inning when Alison Hutton stroked a triple to lead off and then scored on a ground out by Jennifer Cramer. It looked like that 1-0 score was going to hold as both the third and fourth innings were also scoreless. Again each time had chances to score but neither could cash in.

The top of the fifth inning was when the Lady Bulldogs made their move. Lindsey Basford and Maya Boykin led off the inning with a singles. Brandi Middleton followed with a bunt to load the bases and set up Hutton for a big play. Hutton came through with a clutch 3 RBI triple to score Basford, Boykin and Middleton and give Marianna a 4-0 lead. A ground ball by Cramer was mishandled and that allowed Hutton to come home to score. The final run came after a hit by Cayce Griffin set up a RBI single from Mallory Dean to score Cramer and make it a 6-0 Lady Bulldog lead.

Any ideas of a Sneads rally were snuffed out by Stout who struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth inning. Marianna had another opportunity in their last at bat when they loaded the bases again. But Sneads came up with the defensive plays with a force out and strike to prevent any more damage. The last at bat for the Lady Pirates saw Ashlen Wilson double and then home to score on a ground ball hit by Cambridge Chason. But that was all the Lady Pirates could muster allowing Marianna to seal the win.

Marianna improved to 21-3 on the season while Sneads fell to 17-6. Griffin and Boykin each had three hits to lead Marianna while Wilson led Sneads with two hits.