Russellville softball takes on Ardmore tournament

By Brannon King / For the FCT

Russellville 6, Deshler 3

Deshler came to Russellville to take on the Lady Golden Tigers April 10, and a three-run fifth inning propelled RHS to victory.

Trailing 3-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning, Russellville scored three times to take the lead for good and then added two more runs in the sixth frame to pad that advantage.

RHS outhit Deshler 8-6, and six Golden Tigers had hits. Karlie Moore and Sydney Burcham both went 2-for-3 at the plate, and one of Burcham’s hits was a triple. Alivia Clemmons had a clutch double, and she drove in three runs. Lauren Rogers, Leah Rushing and Moore picked up the other Russellville RBIs.  Meanwhile, AJ Taylor, Krista Sikes and Rogers all added singles for RHS.

“Our bats were a little slow starting off,” Russellville head coach Kathryn Montgomery said. “Our defense was there in the beginning and had a little lapse in the middle of the game. Then our bats answered back, and our defense came back with consistency, and that’s what we needed.”

Emma Whitfield got the start in the pitching circle and went three innings, allowing two runs. Sikes came on in relief and worked the game’s final four innings, allowing no hits and one run and striking out eight.

Russellville 20, Lawrence County 12

Moulton was the scene for Thursday’s big Class 5A, Area 16 matchup between the Lady Golden Tigers and the Lady Red Devils.

The RHS girls (16-9-1, 4-2) kept their hopes alive of taking first place in the area by sweeping LCHS on the season. The Lady Golden Tigers need Lawrence County to defeat East Limestone and Brooks to create a three-team tie atop the area standings. If East wins at Lawrence County, they will host the upcoming area tournament.

Sikes pitched the game against Lawrence County and also had four hits, three RBIs and three runs scored on offense. Burcham helped out with two triples, two RBIs and four runs scored.

RHS batters that also picked up hits included Autumn Logan (3), Makala O’Neal (3), Moore (3), Taylor (2), Alivia Clemmons (1) and Jenna Whitfield (1).  Chalea Clemmons added an RBI to the Russellville total.

Athens 11, Russellville 1 (Ardmore Tournament)

The Battle on the Border took place in Ardmore Friday, and the Lady Golden Tigers dropped their first game of the event to Athens.

The Russellville ladies only managed three hits in the five-inning game. Jasmine Galloway hit safely, as did Logan and Burcham.

Burcham’s hit was a triple, and Krista Sikes drove her in for the RHS run.

Emma Whitfield, Sikes and Megan Warhurst did the pitching for Russellville.

Russellville 7, Sparkman 7 (Ardmore Tournament)

The second game of the night for RHS ended in a tie on a controversial call that ended the five-inning game.

Russellville put together a rally with five runs in the game’s last inning to tie the score, but the final out was called when the home plate umpire ruled that the Russellville batter hit a pitched ball while out of the batter’s box.

Alivia Clemmons and Logan had two hits each for RHS. Burcham and Taylor both added doubles, and Sikes, Moore and Rogers all contributed singles.

Warhurst and Emma Whitfield pitched the game for Russellville.

Ardmore 11, Russellville 4 (Ardmore Tournament)

Taylor went 2-for-3 and hit a two-run homer in the last game of the night for RHS Friday. Moore reached base three times and scored a run, while teammates Burcham, Logan and Rushing also had hits.

The trio of Sikes, Emma Whitfield and Megan Warhurst did the pitching for Russellville, with Sikes getting the start and Warhurst finishing the game.

Wilson 10, Russellville 9

The Lady Golden Tigers went on the road to take on a talented and highly-ranked Wilson team April 16 and almost upset the Lady Warriors.

Russellville led 3-0 after a Moore home run going into the bottom of the second inning, but Wilson scored seven times in the frame to take the lead. RHS battled back to take an 8-7 lead in the fourth with home runs by Burcham, Alivia Clemmons and Taylor. However, in the fifth inning, Wilson scored three more times and regained the lead.

Lauren Rogers tried to start a last inning comeback with an RBI single in the seventh, but the Lady Warriors prevailed.