Woodville’s Emily Huston steals third base as Skyline’s Jensen Scarberry awaits the throw.
Sentinel Photo | Jason Bowen
Emily Huston (center) gets a congratulatory high-five from teammate Rebecca Tidwell after hitting a three-run homer in Woodville’s Class 1A Area 15 win over archrival Skyline Tuesday.
Woodville softball coach Franklin Pritchett got a glimpse of what he hopes are signs of things to come for his team.
Woodville (9-5) posted its second-highest run total of the season while pounding out 16 hits in a 12-1 victory over archrival Skyline Tuesday afternoon at SHS.
The Panthers scored five runs in the second inning to take control before adding one in the third, one in the fourth, two in fifth and three in seventh.
Pritchett said his club hasn't been as consistent at the plate as he'd like. But he was more than pleased with its production Tuesday. "The bats were better today," he said. "We changed the lineup a little bit. We did a good job getting the bat on it."
Chelsea Cline and Kyeland Hilliard singled and doubled with one out in the top of the second to start Woodville's offensive surge. Lissa Meeks' RBI groundout scored Cline to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead, and Hilliard scored on Jesse Winternheimer's RBI single for a 2-0 advantage. After Emily Huston's RBI single, Rebecca Tidwell singled to left field to plate Winternheimer. Chelsea Collins then delivered a two-run single to give Woodville a 5-0 lead. Cline reached on an error in the third and scored on Hilliard's RBI groundout, and Tidwell singled in the fourth and scored on Tristin Loudermilk's RBI single to put Woodville in front 7-0.
Huston's two-run double in the fifth drove in Meeks (single) and Winternheimer (double), and her three-run homer in the top of the seventh capped the Panthers' scoring outburst.
Huston finished 3-for-5 with five RBIs. Winternheimer went 3-for-4 and Tidwell 3-for-5 while Collins finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Collins got the win in the circle, allowing just two hits over seven innings while recording 12 strikeouts.
Jordan Atkins doubled and Courtney Manning singled for the Vikings' hits. Manning's single plated Casey Dalton, who walked and scored in the bottom of the fifth.
Skyline coach Kim Lewis said her team has to put the rivalry loss behind them and move on. "We're young, we're still learning," she said. "We're building. This group, they love [the sport], and they'll keep fighting."
The win pushed the Panthers to 2-0 in Class 1A Area 15. They have four more area games to go with two against Paint Rock Valley and one game each left against Athens Bible and Skyline. "We've got a busy week coming up with more area games," Pritchett said. "We've got to be ready."
