Senior night, area wins highlight successful week of RHS softball
Russellville’s varsity softball team recently defeated two area opponents during a busy week of games on the diamond.
The Lady Golden Tigers went to West Point April 19 and got an 8-5 area win over the Lady Warriors. The loss was WPHS’ only area defeat of the season.
Russellville’s Addison Holcomb went four-for-four with a home run and a double. The seventh-grader had two RBIs and scored three times.
Additional Lady Golden Tiger RBIs were supplied by Summer Butler and Tori Tiffin. Joining Holcomb in the hit column were Butler, Tiffin, Jenna Whitfield, Jacey Moore, Paislee James and Maddy Green.
James pitched a complete game for the win. She threw 77 pitches over seven innings, allowing eight hits and four earned runs.
RHS hosted senior night April 21, and the opponent was area rival Lawrence County. Russellville’s two seniors, Tori Tiffin and Maddy Green, both contributed to the 8-6 victory. With the win, the Lady Golden Tigers finished regular season area play in second place with a 2-2 record.
“Maddy and Tori do a lot for the school, not just for the softball program,” said Russellville head coach Josh Graham. “They are involved in drama, other sports and community service. We’re going to miss them next year; they are a presence in the locker room and on the field.”
Russellville fell behind in the first inning by a 2-0 score before rallying with four runs in the bottom of the third and two more in the fourth.
Trailing 8-3 going into the sixth inning, the Lady Devils tried for a comeback, but RHS held them off.
Extra-base hits came in bunches for Russellville, with James and Holcomb smacking two doubles each and Moore picking up one. Moore was two-for-four with three RBIs and a run. Tiffin, Holcomb and James had the other Russellville RBIs. Tiffin added two hits, while Butler, Campbell and Green also hit safely.
Tiffin pitched and got the win. She went all seven innings allowing eight hits and four earned runs. The right-hander struck out four and walked four.
“It’s always good to get a ‘W’ against an area opponent,” Graham said after the win over Lawrence County. “We played hard the whole game and stayed in it. We had a chance to get our heads down, but we didn’t, and we continued to play hard.”
Russellville spent April 22-23 participating in a tournament in Muscle Shoals. The Lady Golden Tigers defeated Brooks and Deshler, tied Danville and lost to James Clemens to run the RHS record on the season to 17-19-1.
The win over Deshler came even though the Lady Golden Tigers had no hits. An unearned run by Russellville spoiled the gem pitched by Tittle of DHS. Jacey Moore also went seven innings in the circle for RHS during that contest, allowing two hits.