Northview takes third in state; Enterprise fourth

MONTGOMERY — It didn’t take the sting out of Friday’s losses, but the Northview and Enterprise softball teams finished third and fourth in the state, respectively.

The Area 5 rivals represented the Wiregrass well in the Class 6A state tournament at Lagoon Park. Enterprise was eliminated 1-0 in eight innings by Satsuma. Northview dropped a pair of games Friday — 3-0 to Sparkman in the winner’s bracket finale and 1-0 to Satsuma with a spot in the finals at stake.

“They’ll get home tonight and realize tomorrow how great a season they had,” Enterprise coach Ben Thompson said about his Wildcats, although it applies to the Cougars, too.

Satsuma’s Hannah Campbell pitched a no-hitter against Northview (38-16). The Cougars’ only baserunner, Mollie Hanson, got aboard on a passed ball after a strikeout.

“We beat her sister (identical twin Lannah Campbell) yesterday,” Northview coach Jessica Noble said. “Her sister didn’t have a drop ball like she does. We just couldn’t get hits. You’ve got to score to win.”

Northview starter Mollie Hanson pitched a three-hitter and took a shutout into the bottom of the sixth inning.

LeLe Martin reached on an error and went to second base on a passed ball. She scored on Lannah Campbell’s one-out single to center.

“Mollie pitched a great game,” Noble said. “She got out of a jam (second and third, nobody out in the second). She dug deep. I just wish we could have
scratched a run for her. ... They got the hit when they needed the hit.”

Lannah Campbell had two of the Gators’ three hits. Courtney Langley had the other.

Satsuma 1, Enterprise 0: Satsuma (54-7) started its day with a 1-0 victory over Enterprise.

The Wildcats (35-24-1) never backed off trying to make things happen. It cost them several crucial outs on the basepaths.

In fact, the Lady Cats made four outs running the bases in the first three innings.

“We were being aggressive. We’ve done it all year, and we’re not going to stop now,” Thompson said.

The most costly sequence came in the bottom of the second. Enterprise’s Ashley Simon, who had two of the Lady Cats’ seven hits, hit a one-out single to left. Kayla Beth Logsdon then reached on an infield single. A double steal moved them to second and third.

Bailey Harrelson followed with a bunt up the third-base line that pitcher Courtney Singley pounced on. Simon held up at third about a third of the way down the line. Singley caught Simon in a rundown. Simon dashed back toward third, where Logsdon was headed, then broke back for home. She was tagged out by catcher Hayley Brown. Brown then fired to second base to get Logsdon, who was trying to scramble back after seeing Simon in trouble, for an inning-ending double play.

“It was one of those things,” Thompson shrugged. “(Simon) didn’t break early on the bunt, could have run into the tag if she had. She just got in no man’s land there. That hurt us, but we still had chances. We just couldn’t get the big hit.”

Enterprise pitcher Brittany Perry had a five-hit shutout through seven innings. The Gators earned their run in the top of the eighth.

Lannah Campbell hit a one-out double that one-hopped the fence in right. Hannah Campbell drove her in with a double to left field.

“She did a great job,” Thompson said of Perry.

In addition to Simon’s two hits, Enterprise got hits from Logsdon, Hannah Martin, Harrelson, Mercedes Sanders and Ashley Carnley.

“I’m proud of these girls. They surprised everybody,” Thompson said. “I know they’re not satisfied; they wanted to win it all. But to make it to the final four, it’s a
great accomplishment.”

The coach said his team played its best ball late in the season.

“We had some low points. Anytime you don’t play well you start wonder if they’re going to pull through,” he said. “The Dothan game in the area tournament was
the turning point for this team. It really gave them confidence. They knew they could play in big games and win them.”

Sparkman 3, Northview 0: In the 9 a.m. game, Samantha Thorpe pitched a five-hit shutout and the top-ranked Senators had three of their six hits in a three-run fifth inning.
Northview had five hits, including two by Brooke Lee. Mollie Hanson, Brynn Benak and pitcher Emily Peterman had the other hits.

“Em pitched a good game,” Noble said. “We had one bad inning. They strung some hits together and scored some runs. We got our hits, we just didn’t bunch them together like they did.”

Allison Sutherlin led off Sparkman’s fifth with an infield single. One out later, Mallory McNeal lined a double to right field that scored courtesy runner Katie Brinkman with the game’s first run. Hayden Crawford followed with a run-scoring single to center to make it 2-0. Crawford scored on an error later in the inning.

That sent the Cougars to the loser’s bracket, where they were eliminated by Satsuma.

“We had a good season. We finished 38-16, third in the state,” Noble said. “The girls can hold their head up high. They played great this year. It was a great
season for us.”

Benton and Hanson were named to the All-Tournament team.