Lady Seahawks go 2-2 at spring break tourney

The Lady Seahawks softball team took on some tough opponents at a popular tournament in Gulf Shores, Alabama over spring break, and came back finishing in the top half of the pack.

“It was great for us, it made us better for sure,” said coach Scott Collins. “Everything that happened made us better. We played quality opponents, played teams we had never seen before and probably will never see again. It was all good.”

The team opened with a triple header on Monday, March 14, with an early morning game against the White House Blue Devils, from White House, Tennessee.

Freshman Sarah Ham struck out nine and gave up just two hits as she pitched a complete game.

The Seahawks scored a run in the first and third, with freshman Ryan Brown going 1 for 3 and scoring both runs and stealing two bases, and freshman Michalyn O’Neal 2 for 2.

“I don’t think White House hit the ball out of the infield,” said Collins. “They had some bunta and they small balled us and scored.”

The following game, against Tipton-Rosemark Academy out of Millington, Tennessee, was a close game for the first four innings, as Franklin County clung to a 2-1 lead,

But then the Rebels plated three runs in the top of the fifth, and six more in the sixth, for the 10-2 win.

“It was a lot closer than the score indicated,” said Collins. “They had some good hits.”

Ham gave up seven earned runs and sixth grader Addison Mallon two as the Rebels exploded in the last two innings. Collins ended up pulling Ham to give her some much-needed rest.

“Addyson Mallon did really good for an 11-year old,” said Collins. “She came in with runners on base and she got us out of the inning.”

In the third game of the day, the Seahawks shutout Jo Byrns, from Cedar Hill, Tennessee, 7-0 as Ham surrendered no hits and struck out three.

Senior Ariel Andrews went 2 for 3 with an RBI, while O’Neal went 2 for 2, with an RBI. 

The Seahawks played two runs in the first and fourth, and three in the second, to ice the game.

After a rainout Tuesday, it was a different story on Wednesday against Jo Byrns, as the team fell in a tough 3-2 loss.

“It was a tough loss, it hurt,” said Collins. “We had dominated Jo Byrns and they had beat other people pretty good. We beat them solidly that first time but they were a good team.

“We had a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the last inning and made a couple errors that lost the game,” said Collins. “The buck stops here, with me. You got to repeat, repeat, repeat (practice with fielding).”

Ham went the distance, giving up one earned run while striking out two and walking one.

Andrews went 2 for 3 and scored a run, and sophomore Taylor Mallon went 1 for 1 as the Seahawks managed just three hits. Malling and freshman Kaylyn McNair each stolle a pair of bases.

“We’ve got to get a little more production from the bottom of the order,” said Collins.

The loss ousted the Seahawks from the tournament, where they finished 18th, in the top half of the 50 teams that competed.