Lady Wildcats take second at regionals

J.R. Tidwell/FCT Tharptown’s Brae Sellers (21) gets a hit against Woodville in the Lady Wildcats’ first game at the North Regional in Huntsville on Friday afternoon. Tharptown won the game 9-6.

The Tharptown Lady Wildcats made the North Regionals for the third consecutive season this year, but something they had never done there was win a game at Huntsville. By the end of the tournament they had won three.

The Lady Wildcats went 3-0 to start the tournament, beating Woodville 9-6 and Spring Garden 8-7 on day one and starting day two with an 11-5 win over Athens Bible. Both of the day one wins were also come-from-behind victories.

“Today was a product of being off since the area tournament,” said Tharptown head coach Susie Sellers after day one. “I was concerned about errors, and we did make a couple. We did good, though. Our younger girls stepped up, and I’m proud of them.”

The Lady Wildcats found themselves facing Athens Bible on day two, and it turns out, only Athens Bible. The two teams would play each other three times before the day was over.

Game one of three on day two began at 9:30 a.m. with an 11-5 win for Tharptown over eventual 1A winners Athens Bible.

This also meant that Tharptown had automatically punched its ticket for the state tournament in Montgomery for the very first time.

The Lady Wildcats lost to the team 12-2 in the second game of the day, meaning that the two teams were in for one last showdown to decide first and second place.

The third game between the two teams became a war of attrition that spanned over two hours of night and rain, ending with a 12-7 win for Athens Bible. Even so, Tharptown took home the second-place trophy.

“We battled them in the second game, but we were complacent in the first game,” Sellers said. “In the second game we wanted it, but things didn’t go our way. I questioned the strike zone [of the home plate umpire]. I’m proud of the girls. They played with grit.”