Class 1A foes face off in elimination game

MONTGOMERY — Wiregrass rivals Kinston and Pleasant Home had hoped to continue their recent championship duel Saturday at the Class 1A State Tournament.

They will have to settle for knocking the other out of the tournament.

Both teams remain alive following the opening day but will face each other in an elimination game today at Lagoon Park. Both teams went 1-1 Friday.
Kinston, ranked fifth in the state, edged sixth-ranked Lynn 1-0 in its opener, but then fell 6-0 to No. 3 South Lamar.

Pleasant Home, ranked second, dropped a 2-1 decision to top-ranked Speake in its opener but stayed alive with a 4-2 win over Maplesville.

Kinston (32-17) and Pleasant Home (32-11) will play today at 9 a.m. The winner advances to play at noon against the Lynn-Spring Garden winner.

South Lamar 6, Kinston 0: South Lamar had all the offense and Kinston hardly any in the winners’ bracket match-up. The Stallions (32-7) battered Bulldog pitching for 12 hits. Ten of the 12 hits came from the top four hitters in the lineup.

“They were hitting it,” Kinston head coach Janie Wiggins said. “They were choking up and poking, not taking full cuts, but they were base hits.”

Kinston, on the other hand, managed only one hit off Laken Hancock — a bloop single to short right field by Whitney Hercus in the fifth inning.

“We just couldn’t hit, and you can’t score runs if you don’t hit,” Wiggins said.

The Bulldogs also struggled offensively in their opening win, earning just two hits.

“We just didn’t hit the ball,” Wiggins said. “We were killing the ball at the regionals, but today we struggled.”

After leaving two on in the first, the Stallions got the offense in gear, scoring a run in the second, two in the fourth and three in the sixth.

Kinston had two threats to score. In the second, Tasha Jones walked and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Emily Mock, but was stranded there after two fly outs. In the sixth, Amanda Crohn and Bethany Holley were at second and third with two outs after walks to both and a wild pitch. However, a strikeout ended the inning.

Holley started for Kinston and was rocked for eight hits and three runs. Sara Mock pitched the final three innings and gave up four hits and three runs. Both had six strikeouts.

Hancock limited Kinston to one hit and struck out six.

Kinston 1, Lynn 0: Kinston broke a scoreless tie with a run in the bottom of the sixth, cashing in on two errors, and Holley made it stand, retiring the side in the seventh.

With one out, Crohn reached on an error as the leftfielder missed a fly ball. Erin Shaw then hit a bouncer back to the mound, and the pitcher’s throw to first got past first base. Crohn came around to score.

Holley allowed only four hits and struck out nine to pick up the win.

The Bulldogs won despite only two hits — a single by Crohn in the fourth and a double by Macie Sanders in the fifth.

Pleasant Home 4, Maplesville 2: The Eagles went up 2-0 as Ariel Gunter singled and scored on a Emily Byrd single in the third and Kati Reeves doubled and scored on an error in the fourth.

The Red Devils cut the gap to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, but Kaitlin Brookshire singled and scored on an Erin Byrd ground out in the fifth to push Pleasant Home to a 3-1 lead.

Maplesville scored a run in the sixth to cut it to 3-2.

Pleasant Home then got an insurance run in the seventh as Megan Cook doubled and later scored on a force out.
Brentin Fuller picked up the win, allowing six hits. She struck out four.

The Eagles had only four hits — the double by Kati Reeves and singles by Gunter, Emily Byrd and Brookshire.

Speake 2, Pleasant Home 1: In a much-anticipated battle of No. 1 against No. 2, the second-ranked Eagles lost to top-ranked Speake.

Speake scored single runs in the second and fourth. Pleasant Home scored its run in the seventh and had the tying runner at second when the game ended.
Gunter singled to open Pleasant Home’s seventh, and Brookshire followed with a single. She was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double. Emily Byrd then singled to drive in Raven Woods, a pinch runner for Gunter.

Byrd advanced to second on a ground out to get into scoring position, but a ground out then ended the game.
Reeves had two hits for Pleasant Home, which had seven different players earn a hit.

Gina Davis was the losing pitcher. She had eight strikeouts and scattered seven hits.