Season ends for Russellville girls
By Brannon King / For the FCT
The Russellville softball team made a strong push through the AHSAA 5A North Regional at the Huntsville Metro Kiwanis Sportsplex but came up just short of advancing to the state tournament.
The Lady Golden Tigers won three games in two days but fell 9-8 to Alexandria with a trip to Montgomery on the line in an elimination game. Alexandria dealt the Russellville girls both of their losses in the regional, with the Valley Cubs taking a winners’ bracket game in their first meeting.
Action got underway May 10 with a morning matchup between RHS and Scottsboro. Russellville jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and the Wildcats managed to score only a single run that came in the sixth inning.
Sydney Burcham led the way at the plate for Russellville with a 3-for-4 performance, including three doubles. Autumn Logan had a home run and three RBIs, while Karlie Moore picked up a RBI on a bases-loaded walk. Krista Sikes and Alivia Clemmons both had one hit each for RHS.
Megan Warhurst pitched a complete game, and she allowed only four hits while striking out five.
The second game of the day for Russellville went the way of Alexandria by an 8-1 score that was not indicative of how closely the game was played.
The Valley Cubs got on the board in the first inning when Maggie Phillips smacked a home run off of Russellville starter Sikes. The two teams went to the sixth inning with Alexandria clinging to a 1-0 lead before the Cubs scored two runs in the sixth and five more in the last frame.
Sydney Burcham had her second consecutive 3-for-4 game with the bat, and she drove in Lauren Rogers for the lone Russellville run.
Burcham finished the game with two doubles, which brought her total to five extra-base hits in two games.
Sikes, Warhurst and Emma Whitfield did the pitching for Russellville, with Warhurst pitching 5.2 of the game’s seven innings.
RHS Coach Kathryn Montgomery was back on the field coaching from the third base box for the regional, and her team took on Guntersville in an elimination game to finish up their play on the first day of action. Russellville had no trouble staying alive and took the game by a 12-1 final score.
The first game May 11 for Russellville was a rematch between the Golden Tigers and Scottsboro. Just as in the first contest between the two schools, RHS was too much for the talented Scottsboro squad.
The exciting game saw the two teams battling down to the wire, with AJ Taylor driving in Alivia Clemmons for the walk off victory. The single came after Russellville’s Karlie Moore tied the game at 4-4 with a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth.
Autumn Logan and Taylor both had three-hit games, and Logan added a walk to reach base in each of her plate appearances. Clemmons and Jenna Whitfield also reached base on singles.
Warhurst got the start in the circle, and Emma Whitfield finished the game off by pitching the final 2.2 innings.
RHS’ season came to a heartbreaking close with a May 11 loss to Alexandria by a 9-8 score. Russellville looked to be in good position to get the victory and advance to state, but the Valley Cubs took the win and moved on to Montgomery with an Ardmore team that went undefeated in the North Regional bracket.
