Lady Knights topple No. 1-ranked Clarkdale 9-2 in slow-pitch battle
By By Austin Bishop / EMG regional sports director
Sept. 5, 2004
The driving force behind No.3-ranked West Lauderdale's 9-2 slow-pitch softball win over top-ranked Clarkdale on Saturday afternoon came from an unexpected place.
In a game featuring two teams loaded with softball stars, it was the bottom of West Lauderdale's batting order that pushed the 11-0 Lady Knights to the convincing win.
"The bottom of the order really picked it up for us today," said veteran WL head softball coach Jerry Boatner. "They really came out hitting the ball and got us going in that one inning."
West Lauderdale used two unearned runs in the top of the first and one more in the third to take a 3-0 lead after five innings of play. The Lady Knights began the sixth inning with the No. 7 hitter coming to the plate. WL pounded out five consecutive hits on the way to a five-run inning to take an 8-0 lead.
"I think that's the best we have played all season," Boatner said. "We got some clutch hits and played our normal great defense."
Clarkdale, now 12-1 on the season, began to put together an offensive threat in the last two innings.
The Lady Bulldogs cut the WL lead to 8-2 in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a two-run double by Ashley Bye. Alyssa Bye began the rally with a one-out double.
Clarkdale was on the verge of scoring more runs in the inning, but with runners on the corners and just one out, West Lauderdale was able to turn a nice 4-6-3 double play.
WL used a two-out double by Kristi Lantz and an RBI single by Sydney Cagle to stretch its lead to 9-2 in the top of the seventh. Clarkdale loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but a pop out back to the mound and a fly out to left ended the threat and the game for the Lady Bulldogs.
Lantz had a double and two singles to lead West Lauderdale's 15-hit attack, while Morgan Gullette, Cagle, Kim McAlister and Kayla Eubanks had two hits each.
Clarkdale had 11 hits, with Ashley Bye banging out a double and single. Savannah Satcher and Tessa Gamble had two singles each for the Lady Bulldogs, while Alyssa Bye had a two-bagger.
