Three-peat! West Lauderdale claims another softball title

By By Marty Stamper / staff writer
Oct. 24, 2004
JACKSON Once the West Lauderdale Lady Knights got to the Class 3A state slow-pitch finals, they found little resistance to their third-straight title.
The Lady Knights swept Corinth 15-5 in 4 1/2 innings and 14-4 in seven frames to finish with a 32-4 record and their eighth-state championship in the last 12 years. Corinth closed at 24-16.
West had 40 hits in the two games with each starter having at least one in each game.
In the opener, West spotted Corinth a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning as the Lady Warriors had three hits and the Lady Knights committed three errors.
West scored twice in the bottom of the first and tallied nine runs in the second on nine hits three of which were triples on the 300-foot fields at the V.A. Complex and two Corinth errors. In the inning, Josie Matthews put the Lady Knights up for good at 5-3 with a two-run triple to right-center. Morgan Gullette also had a two-run triple.
Sydney Cagle had a two-run triple for West in the third to put the Lady Knights up 13-4.
Katie McAlister's RBI single in the fourth gave West a 10-run lead.
West had 19 hits. Holly Herrington and Kristi Lantz both went 3-for-4 with a triple. Ashley Helms was 3-for-3. Gullette had a single and a triple to drive in three runs. McAlister and Kayla Eubanks were both 2-for-4. Eubanks had two RBIs. Five Lady Knights scored two runs each.
Corinth had 10 hits with Catherine Simmons going 3-for-3. Maggi Vondenstein had a two-run double.
In the second game, West took control early with four runs in the top of the first inning and two more in the second. Corinth got no closer than 7-4 before the Lady Knights put the game away with five runs in the top of the fifth.
In the first inning, Cagle had a two-run single with McAlister and Hayley Campbell adding RBI singles.
Matthews and McAlister had RBI singles in the second. Helms had an RBI single in the third.
In the fifth, Herrington, Eubanks, and Matthews had consecutive RBI singles. Lantz added a two-run single for a 12-4 lead.
Eubanks had a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Matthews added an RBI single.
The Lady Knights had 21 hits with Eubanks, Matthews, McAlister, and Helms each getting three. Matthews had three RBIs. Herrington, Campbell, and Jones each had two hits. Herrington also scored four runs.
Sommer Jones (32-4) was the winning pitcher in both games.
Simmons again led the Lady Warriors as she went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Amanda Hardwick, Kristi Hurley, and Marley Whitaker each had two hits.
Kayla Manus took the loss in both games.
Either the Lady Knights' dynasty or that of New Hope will likely end next year as West is expected to move up to Class 4A. New Hope won its fifth-straight 4A title Saturday with a 9-0, 11-1 sweep of East Central.