Third inning carries Lady Indians past Wills Point
Meredith Edwards threw 2 2/3 innings of relief against Grand Saline, allowing four hits and three runs, only one of which was earned.
The Wills Point Lady Tigers and Grand Saline Indians met on the diamond Feb. 15 in one of the first softball games of the 2016 season for each team. The smaller school in the battle, Grand Saline, more than held its own, using multi-run innings in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings to register a 13-6 win over the homestanding Lady Tigers.
After keeping the Lady Indians off the scoreboard in the top of the first, the Wills Point offense generated a run after Meredith Edwards came around to score following a single, ground out, single by Kamree Clark and a fielding error.
Grand Saline answered back in the top of the second by scoring twice to take their first lead of the night. Caitlyn Amaya kick started the Lady Indian offense with a triple. After a bunt single by Kelsey Smith, both Amaya and Smith came home to score on a Kenzie Gardner single. Wills Point eventually got out of the inning without any more damage being done, trailing 2-1 going into the bottom half of the second.
The Lady Tigers squared the game at 2-2 in their next round of at bats, getting an RBI single from Lori Ellington that helped plate Adrianna Holland.
Grand Saline began to pull away from Wills Point in the top of third inning, plating five runs to surge out to a comfortable 7-2 lead over the home team. The Lady Indians loaded the bases with no outs and, after a fielder’s choice took care of a potential runner coming home to score, Grand Saline got the big breakthrough it needed off the bat of Paytton Stanley brought home two. Caitlyn Amaya followed by reaching on an error that scored a run before a second fielding error helped two more Lady Indians come home.
Thanks to the pitching of Emma Elliott, and several nice fielding plays on hard hit balls by the Grand Saline defense, the Lady Indians kept Wills Point off the board in four out of the next five innings played.
Grand Saline’s offense, on the other hand, brought home two more runners in both the fourth and fifth, and another runner in the sixth for a commanding 12-2 lead.
Wills Point managed to score four runs in their half of the sixth, pulling to within 12-6 before another Grand Saline run in the top of the seventh helped shut the door for the 13-6 Lady Indian victory.
Leading hitters for Wills Point included Kamree Clark going 3/4 with two RBI, Lori Ellington going 2/3 with an RBI and a run scored, Mackenzie Bolt going 2/4 with a run scored, Meredith Edwards going 1/4 with an RBI and two runs scored, Carmen Morales going 1/3 with an RBI and Sierra Spindle, Adrianna Holland and Kaylie Willis all picking up hits.
Emma Elliott pitched all seven innings for the Grand Saline win, allowing 12 hits and 5 earned runs while striking out 4. Elliott also helped her own cause at the plate, finishing 3/3 with four runs scored.
Other Lady Indian hitters in the game included Kenzie Gardner, Paytton Stanley, Cassidy Smith and Brooklyn Bolin all registering two hits, and Zoe Deatherage, Mallory O’Donnell, Caitlyn Amaya, Alicia Kelly and Kelsey Smith all registering one hit.
Stanley led Grand Saline offensively with 4 RBI, while Gardner and Kelsey Smith each drove in two, and Caitlyn Amaya and Alicia Kelly each drove in one.
