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Sand Rock's Logan Smith connects on a double against Ranburne on Saturday.
After Sand Rock (16-9) opened with a 17-1 win over Vincent to begin Class 2A North Central Regional play on Friday, the Lady Wildcats struggled to find any offense on Saturday.
The same can be said of Cherokee County (32-9-1). The Lady Warriors managed only three hits in a 4-1 Class 4A opening-round loss to Cleburne County on Friday. Cherokee County rebounded to beat Locust Fork 6-1 in the losers bracket, but fell 1-0 against Class 4A, Area 12 rival Alexandria.
Sand Rock coach Josh Bates and Cherokee County coach Travis Barnes will have a lot coming back next season. They’re both hoping their teams’ experiences in the North Central Regional.
“The experience of seeing this and knowing what to expect next year will help us a lot,” Bates said. “It helps me a lot to know how to prepare and set our schedule up next year and get in tournaments and help our team grow. I think we’re better prepared for next year.”
Added Barnes: “We won the county championship, the Gulf Shores Tournament and the area championship. That’s three big tournaments. We won 32 games this year, and many of those games were against good teams. That’s what I want to do, play a harder schedule. It gets you better, and hopefully this will be a stepping stone into next year.”
Here’s a recap of the North Central Regional Tournament for both teams, beginning with Sand Rock.
Sand Rock 17, Vincent 1 (5 innings) – Sand Rock exploded for 13 runs in their North Central Regional Tournament opener en route to the win.
Kristen Ray led the charge by going 2 for 4. Taylor Rogers added a run-scoring triple. Amber Henderson had a two-run single. Carrie Robertson had a pair of walks.
Other hits came from the bats of Magan Parker, Crimson Dooley, Kelsey Hayes and Jessica Mackey.
Rogers earned the win after pitching just one inning. Kristen Ray came into the game in the second.
The win sent the Lady Wildcats to the winners bracket, where they took on Oakman on Saturday morning.
Oakman 4, Sand Rock 0 – Oakman scored three runs in the second and added another in the fourth for the win.
Henderson had the only hit for the Lady Wildcats. She went 1 for 2 in the game.
The loss sent Sand Rock to the losers bracket, where it took on Ranburne.
Ranburne 8, Sand Rock 0 – Ranburne scored two runs in the first, three in the second and three more in the fourth to eliminate the Lady Wildcats.
Logan Smith led Sand Rock with a pair of doubles. Mackey, Rogers, Gena Farmer and Tabitha Abernathy all had singles.
“They got the hits and we got down on ourselves,” Bates said. “When we’re not hitting the ball, it’s hard to keep our heads up and keep playing. We didn’t do that very well today (Saturday).
Cleburne County 4, Cherokee County 1 – The Lady Warriors’ bats were stymied by Cleburne County’s Jordan Charles. Cherokee County managed just three hits against her in the loss on Friday.
Santana Perry got the Tigers on the board first. She had a run-scoring single in the top of fourth that plated Taylor Pappas to make it 1-0 Cleburne County.
Cherokee County tied the game at 1-1 on a solo home run to left by Kaitlyn Griffith, but Cleburne County regained the lead in the top of the sixth.
The Tigers scored three runs in the inning. Jori Ponder led off with a double and later scored on a Pappas single. Haylee Vance squeezed home another run with a bunt single. The Tigers tacked on another run on a groundout by Perry.
Griffith, Cayla Machleit and Laura Rochester were all 1 for 3. Machleit’s hit was a double. Lauren Millsaps suffered the loss. She gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.
Cherokee County 6, Locust Fork 1 – Griffith connected on her second home run of the regional tournament in the top of the second inning. She blasted a two-run shot way over the left center field wall as part of a five-run inning.
Griffith finished the game going 2 for 4 with a homer, a double and three RBI. Madison Millsaps went 2 for 3 with a RBI and a stolen base. Malorie Rosser was 1 for 3 with a RBI. Deidra Davis was also 1 for 3 with a double.
Rosser picked up the win for the Lady Warriors. She went three innings and gave up two hits with seven strikeouts. Tory Davis finished the game in relief, scattering three hits and an earned run with three walks and two strikeouts in four innings.
The win propelled the Lady Warriors to a meeting with Class 4A, Area 12 rival Alexandria.
Alexandria 1, Cherokee County 0 – Like it did against Cleburne County, the Lady Warriors struggles at the plate proved costly.
A bases-loaded walk with one out in the bottom of the seventh to Alexandria’s Sara Borders proved to be the difference in the game. Cherokee County could manage just two hits against the Lady Cubs. Griffith had a double in the first inning and Lauren Millsaps had a triple in the top of the seventh with no outs.
After Griffith popped out to short in the seventh, Millsaps was retired on a squeeze bunt by Rachel Hale for the second out of the inning.. Alexandria ended the inning by getting Machleit to pop out to first.
Millsaps suffered the tough-luck loss. She gave up a run on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts.
“Lauren pitched an outstanding game,” Barnes said. “She was upset after the walk, but I told her that walk didn’t beat us. We didn’t hit the ball. Alexandria got a few hits here and there and a couple of walks. They ended up scoring a run. We just didn’t hit the ball that game and it cost us.”
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