By: Will Jacobs
Last weekend, the Plainview Lady Bears traveled to the Huntsville Sportsplex to participate in a tournament hosted by Sparkman High School. The Lady Bears would face off against Hatton High School and James Clemens High School on Friday, and Hartselle High School and Tuscaloosa County High School on Saturday.
Plainview would first face off against the Hatton Hornets in their first game, where they would struggle on both offense and defense until late in the game. Ava Jacobs was pitching for Plainview, and after not giving up any runs in the first inning, she began to struggle. Hatton would be the first to put runs on the board when they would capitalize off of several base hits, and even a few errors made by the Lady Bears. Plainview would fail to score in the bottom half of the inning, and after two innings, Hatton led 2-0.
Jacobs would continue to struggle in the third inning by giving up a solo homerun to center field giving Hatton a 3-0 lead. Plainview would get out of the top half of the inning with only the one run given up but would fail to put any runs on the board giving Hatton a 3-0 lead after three innings.
The fourth inning was when Plainview began to hit the ball. They would not give up any runs in the top half of the inning and would score two runs cutting the Hatton lead to 3-2.
However, Hatton was not about to let their lead slip away. They would score four more runs in the fifth and sixth innings. A solo homer in the top of the fifth would spark an offensive rally that proved to be too much for Plainview to handle. Hatton would defeat the Lady Bears 8-2. Jacobs would finish the game with six innings pitched and six strikeouts.
The next game for the Lady Bears on Friday night would come against the James Clemens Jets. Plainview was looking to bounce back from a frustrating loss, but the Jets came into the game ready to hit the ball.
Plainview was the away team for this game, and after a scoreless opening inning, they took the field. Lily Boswell was pitching for Plainview, and she would only give up two runs to the Jets. After the first inning, Plainview trailed 2-0.
Neither team would score in the second inning, but in the third inning, Plainview would tie the game up after scoring two runs off of several base hits. James Clemens would answer back for the runs they had given up. The Jets would score four runs in the bottom of the third inning taking a 6-2 lead.
The fourth inning was when the game came to an end. After failing to score any runs in the top of the inning, Plainview took the field. James Clemens would score six runs off of Boswell, and after two more pitching changes, the Jets would score two more runs. The Lady Bears would finally get out of the inning trailing 14-2. The Jets would get three quick outs in the top of the fifth inning and would run-rule Plainview picking up a 14-2 win. Boswell would finish the game with four innings pitched and would strikeout three batters.
On Saturday, Plainview opened up the day by facing off against the Hartselle Tigers. Plainview was again the away team and would get the opportunity to be the first to put runs on the board. They would score one run in the top of the inning taking a 1-0 lead early in the game. Hartselle would answer back, by scoring two runs off of Kenzi Traylor who was pitching for Plainview.
Plainview would fail to score any runs in the top of the second inning, and Traylor would give up two more runs to the Tigers in the bottom half of the inning. After the second inning, Hartselle led 4-1.
After a scoreless third inning for both teams, Plainview managed to score one run in the top of the fourth inning cutting the Tigers’ lead to just two. Hartselle would answer back, however, by earning back the run that they had given up. After four innings, Hartselle led 5-2.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh innings were the best offensive and defensive innings for the Bears. Their defense would not give up any runs to the Tigers, and their offense would score a combined ten runs throughout the rest of the game. Plainview would hold on to defeat Hartselle 12-5. Ava Jacobs kickstarted Plainview’s offense by going 3-for-4 in the game including a grand slam. Traylor would finish the game with seven innings pitched and three strikeouts.
The final game for the Lady Bears came on Saturday against the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats. Once again the Lady Bears were the away team, and they would have to crawl back from behind to take the lead.
The Lady Bears would start off the game with a scoreless first inning, and Jacobs, who was pitching, would give up one run to the Wildcats. After the first inning came to an end, Tuscaloosa County led 1-0.
In the second inning, Plainview would again fail to score any runs in the top half, but their defense would only give up one run to the Wildcats. At the end of the second inning, Plainview trailed 2-0.
After a scoreless third inning for both teams, Plainview got their offense going in the top of the fourth inning. They would score three runs in the top half of the inning, and in the bottom half, their defense would not give up any runs. After four innings, Plainview trailed 4-3.
The fifth inning was the same as the fourth for Plainview. They managed to score two runs this inning and would not give up any runs to the Wildcats. Plainview led after five innings 5-4.
The sixth inning saw the Lady Bears add to their lead by scoring one run and preventing the Tigers from again getting a chance to take back the lead. Going into the top of the seventh inning, Plainview led 6-4.
The seventh inning was also another outstanding offensive inning for Plainview. They would score three more runs to add onto their lead. However, the Wildcats would not go down without a fight. They would score four runs in the bottom of the inning, but Plainview would finish them off by getting the final out of the game to secure a 9-8 win over Tuscaloosa County. Bailey Smart really got things going for Plainview’s offense in this game. She would finish the game 3-for-4 with three homeruns and six RBI’s. Ava Jacobs was credited with the win due to the fact that she was pitching when Plainview took the lead. She finished the game with five innings pitched and three strikeouts.