End of the road

By Staff
No. 2 Ider halts Red Bay's record-setting run, advances to state tournament with sweep
Kim West
k.west@fct.wpengine.com
IDER – Red Bay's record-setting run ended Friday as No. 2 Ider swept the Lady Tigers in the second round of the Class 2A softball playoffs.
The Lady Hornets (44-5), which had won its previous four games by a 36-1 margin, played host to a Red Bay squad that won the Area 16 title, posted a 20-win season and made the playoffs for the first time in program history.
But Ider used an overwhelming combination of hitting and pitching to sweep the Lady Tigers (21-12) with a 5-0 win in the opener of the best-of-three series and a 15-1 victory in Game 2.
"This was the first team in program history to win an area championship and make it to the first and second rounds of the playoffs," said Red Bay coach Donnie Roberts. "This has been a great season for us, and I think we'll be back in the playoffs next year."
Ider junior ace Hilary Phillips (25-0) earned both victories by recording 23 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched and allowing only one run, a walk and three hits, while Stephanie Swanson earned the save in Game 2 by working the final two innings with three strikeouts, one hit and no runs allowed.
Red Bay freshman Whitney Sharp took the losses for both games with nine strikeouts, three walks and 10 hits allowed in 8 2/3 innings.
"We hit the ball well all year long but Ider's pitcher was throwing 62 or 63 miles per hour," Roberts said. "(Philips) was the best pitcher we've faced this year other than West Morgan's, and she also had a good fastball – we work on it all the time but we've got to learn how to hit balls above 60 miles per to win in the playoffs."
In the first game, Kesha Kiphan hit a two-run homer in the first and Jade Hawkins added a three-run shot in the sixth to give Ider a 5-0 win.
Hannah Sharp went 1-for-3 with a two-out single in the third inning, while Kirstin Sharp drew a leadoff walk in the second to lead Red Bay at the plate.
In the second game, Red Bay tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Emily Cox to score Kirstin Sharp, who had reached first on an error.
But Ider added three more runs in the third and then broke open the game with a 10-run fourth inning. The Lady Hornets added another run in the top of the fifth to lead 15-1, and the game was called in the bottom of the inning.
Cox, who also had a steal, Holly Hammock and Ashley Hardin each singled for Red Bay, which will lose three seniors, including Hardin, Ashley Frame and Aimee Jackson.
Liphan led Ider with three hits, including a two-run homer, while Hawkins drove in three runs with two doubles.
Ider will advance to the state tournament at Lagoon Park in Montgomery May 16-17.