Woodville enjoys state experience. Panthers finish 1-2 in first appearance in 1A tourney.
Woodville shortstop Emily Huston tries for a swipe tag on Pleasant Home’s Caitlin Jernigan
during the teams’ Class 1A state tournament game Saturday morning in Montgomery.
The end came sooner than they wished, but the Woodville softball team left the field after being eliminated from the Class 1A state tournament with a well-deserved sense of pride.
The Panthers made the state tournament for the first time in program history this spring, posting a Top 6 finish after falling to Pleasant Home 13-3 in six innings Saturday morning at Montgomery's Lagoon Park.
Woodville finished 1-2 in the tournament, having posted its first-ever state win — a 10-0 rout of Wadley — a day earlier.
"It's not the way we planned on it turning out, but at least we got to experience [state]," said Woodville senior Chelsea Collins. "It was pretty awesome. It's nice, me being a senior, for us to come down here and make school history."
Woodville, which opened the tournament with a 10-0 loss to fifth-ranked Kinston, advanced in the losers' bracket with the win over Wadley Friday evening.
Collins finished with 11 strikeouts — she had 26 for the tournament — in the circle during the shutout while also going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Jesse Winterheimer had three hits for the Panthers while Emily Huston, Kyeland Hilliard and Lissa Meeks had two apiece. Krislon Thompson added a double.
After the opening round loss in which Woodville played with some "nervousness," Panthers coach Franklin Pritchett was proud of the way his team bounced back against Wadley.
"We played much better that second game," Pritchett said. "We hit the ball really well. We pitch well and we're pretty solid on defense, and when we hit, things go well."
The hitting looked as if it would continue into Saturday's matchup with Pleasant Home, as the Panther dug out of a 4-0 hole by scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Huston walked to start the inning and scored on Collins' RBI double. She came home on Hilliard's two-out RBI single, and senior Rebecca Tidwell hit a towering RBI double to left field to plate Hilliard.
But the Panthers couldn't push across another run despite several opportunities — Woodville left 11 runners stranded on base over the next four innings.
"When we scored those three runs, I thought we had a chance to comeback and beat them," Pritchett said. "But we kind of struggled from that point on. The bats died. That's been our nemesis all year."
Pleasant Home lost its next game to Kinston and was eliminated. Top-ranked Ragland repeated as Class 1A state champion, defeating South Lamar 6-3 in the finals.
Woodville finished 23-16. "We had a great year," said Pritchett, who was in his first season with the program. "We had some ups and downs but everybody stuck with us. We lose two really good seniors. We have a lot coming back. This experience should help. I hope we can start a tradition and make this trip down here on a regular basis."
Click the link to see Chelsea Collins hit the ball and Emily run home to score a point.
http://thedailysentinel.com/sports/article_86cf740c-84e5-11e0-afe4-001cc4c002e0.html
