Belgreen wins Franklin County Tournament
By Bart Moss for the FCT
The Belgreen Bulldogs went undefeated through the double elimination bracket to win the 2017 Franklin County Softball Tournament. The Bulldogs had to beat Tharptown twice and came from behind to beat the Wildcats in the finals to win the tournament outright.
“Our girls were ready to play this weekend,” said Tharptown Coach Chris Scott. “Winning the county tournament was one of our goals we set at the beginning of the season.
“We have struggled with patience at the plate lately, but the girls were patient today, and it paid off,” explained Scott. “When the top of the lineup struggled, the bottom came through. Our lead-off girls did great today, playing small ball by getting bunts down, reaching base and putting us in a position to score. Our defense played top notch.
“I couldn’t be prouder of how we played. Now we focus on the area.”
Tharptown Coach Tanna Benford said her team was disappointed, and they have to learn from the experience.
“We played good Thursday in our first two games against Phil Campbell and Red Bay,” said Benford. “Saturday, we just couldn’t finish against Belgreen. We had our chances but just couldn’t put it away. Belgreen came to play and came to win. They made the plays when they needed to.”
The Belgreen Bulldogs won the Franklin County Tournament in dramatic fashion. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Courtney Williams roped a single to leftfield, allowing Kelsey Williams to race from second base to home, beating the throw to the plate for the game-winning run.
It was the heroics in the bottom of the fifth, however, that got the Bulldogs in position to win. Trailing 4-1, Camie Terrel drove a three-run homerun over the centerfield fence to tie the game. Terrel’s homerun scored Shellie Barber and Emma Scott to tie the game 4-4.
Tharptown had scored first in the top of the second inning when a Kaylee Bain single scored Brooke Daily to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Belgreen responded in the bottom half of the inning tying the game when Kacey Wilson scored on an RBI bunt by Gracie Dempsey.
Tharptown opened up a 4-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning when Bain scored on a hardhit ground ball by Cara Ergle, who later scored on double by Daily.
Terrel led the way for Belgreen, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs and scored a run. Barber went 3-for-5 and scored a run. Wilson reached base three times and scored a run.
Emma Dempsey got the win for the Bulldogs, pitching eight innings, allowing three earned runs, walking three and striking out four.
Bain led Tharptown, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and scored a run. Ergle had two RBIs and scored a run. Daily reached base twice, had an RBI and scored a run.
Seventh grader Taylor Cameron went the distance for Tharptown, giving up five runs, four walks and striking out five batters.
Leading up to the deciding game was several days of passionate softball among Franklin County teams. Thursday night, Tharptown and Phil Campbell opened the tournament.
Tharptown 3, Phil Campbell 1
The Wildcats and Bobcats opened the tournament, with the Wildcats beating the Bobcats 3-1. Phil Campbell committed five errors in the game. Tharptown scored two runs in the third inning and one in the fourth, and the Bobcats got their lone run in the fifth.
For Tharptown, Bain reached base twice, had an RBI and scored a run. Olivia Ergle got the win for Tharptown, allowing only four hits and one run and striking out nine batters. Leeah Jackson scored the lone Bobcat run thanks to an RBI by Karley Ergle.
The win advanced Tharptown in the winners bracket to play Red Bay. The loss sent Phil Campbell to the losers bracket.
Belgreen 8, Vina 0
The Belgreen Bulldogs had no problem in their opening game of the tournament, routing Vina 8-0. The Bulldogs got six of their eight runs. Belgreen racked up 15 hits in the game.
For Belgreen, Barber went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs. Cortny Williams went 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. Katie Dempsey went 2-for-2, reached base on a walk, had an RBI and scored a run. Kaycee Wilson went 2-for-2, walked, had an RBI and scored two runs. Bailey Wood went 3-for-3 with two RBIs.
Abby Hester led Vina, going 2-for-2 with a stolen base.
The win allowed Belgreen to advance in the winners bracket. The loss sent Vina to the losers bracket to face Phil Campbell.
Tharptown 10, Red Bay 3
Tharptown scored eight runs in the second inning to get an easy win over Red Bay and stay in the winners bracket. Tharptown was powered by two youngsters in this game, Shaylee Wieting and Cameron.
The speedster Wieting went 2-for-2 and reached base on a walk, had three RBIs and scored three runs. Cameron went 2-for-3 with an RBI and scored two runs.
Olivia Ergle got the win for the Wildcats, pitching five innings and allowing only two earned runs.
Morgan Pierce led Red Bay, going 2-for-2 and scoring a run.
The win advanced Tharptown in the winners bracket to face Belgreen in the semifinals.
Red Bay was sent to the losers bracket.
Phil Campbell 7, Vina 0
The Phil Campbell Bobcats had no problem getting past the Vina Red Devils in the first game of the losers bracket. Vina managed only one hit in the game and made four errors to become the first team eliminated from the tournament.
Phil Campbell scored five runs in the second inning and two runs in the third inning to cruise to the win.
Abby Davis had a strong outing for Phil Campbell, going 2-for-2 with an RBI and scoring two runs. Chloe Roberson went 2-for-2 with a triple and three RBIs and scored a run.
Phil Campbell advanced to play Red Bay, while Vina was eliminated from tournament play.
Red Bay 6, Phil Campbell 0
The Red Bay Tigers bats powered past the Phil Campbell Bobcats in the Franklin County Tournament Saturday. Red Bay had eight hits in the game and took advantage of four Phil Campbell fielding errors.
Red Bay was led by Lila Blackburn, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI and scored two runs. Jordyn McKinney scored two runs. Emma McCollister went 2-for-3 and scored a run. Annaliese Rogers had two hits and two RBIs.
Blackburn was the winning pitcher, allowing only one hit and striking out seven.
Red Bay advanced to face the loser of the Belgreen and Tharptown meeting. Phil Campbell was eliminated from tournament play.
Semi-Finals: Belgreen 6, Tharptown 2
A big five-run fifth inning lifted the Bulldogs past the Wildcats in the semi-finals. Belgreen outhit the Wildcats 11-7, and both teams committed two errors.
Belgreen got on the board first in the top of the third inning when Katie Dempsey scored on a Gracie Dempsey bunt to the pitcher. Tharptown tied the game in the bottom half of the inning when Bain scored on a ground out to the pitcher. The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead when Wieting scored on a passed ball.
Belgreen’s five-run fifth started with a double by Emma Dempsey scoring Gracie Dempsey to tie the game at 2-2. The next batter, Barber, doubled in Wood to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead. Emma Dempsey scored on a sacrifice fly to right field to give Belgreen a 5-2 lead. Barber scored on an error to give Belgreen a 6-2 lead.
For Belgreen, Barber went 2-for-3, reached base on a walk, had an RBI and scored a run. Emma Dempsey went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and scored a run.
Emma Dempsey got the win, allowing only one earned run.
The win advanced Belgreen to the championship game. The loss sent Tharptown to the losers bracket to play Red Bay for another shot at Belgreen in the championship game.
Tharptown 2, Red Bay 1
Cameron pitched a no-hitter to send the Tharptown Wildcats to the championship game of the Franklin County Tournament and a rematch with the Belgreen Bulldogs. Cameron went five innings and allowed no earned runs and no hits and struck out eight batters.
Red Bay led 1-0 after two innings, but Tharptown scored a run in the third to tie the game and a run in the bottom of the fifth to win the game.
Wieting led the way for Tharptown at the plate, reaching base three times, scoring a run and netting an RBI. Aly Vandiver scored Tharptown’s only other run.
Annalise Rogers scored Red Bay’s lone run in the game.
The win sent Tharptown into the final, where the Wildcats would have to beat Belgreen two consecutive times to win the tournament. The loss eliminated Red Bay.
