Lady Barons At SSAC Tourney
Courtesy of BPC
Brewton-Parker softball opened the 2022 SSAC Softball Tournament on Thursday evening with a matchup against Faulkner (Ala.) in Decatur, Ala. Then on the second day of the tournament on Friday, Brewton-Parker played a pair of matchups against No. 8-seeded Stillman (Ala.) and No. 3-seeded Middle Georgia On day one the No. 5-seeded Lady Barons (24-25) were dropped by the No. 4-seeded Eagles (27-18) in a 5-2 defeat. On day two BPC split the day to close out the 2022 season by defeating Stillman (13-35) and falling to Middle Georgia (38-14).
vs. Faulkner
Faulkner opened the scoring with three runs in the first inning after producing a total of five hits. The Eagles left two runners on base to close out the opening inning of action.
Abbey Flowers knocked out a home run to lead off the second inning, pulling the Lady Barons to a tworun deficit behind Faulkner. However, Faulkner’s threerun lead was quickly replenished with a solo score from three triples to lead 4-1 after two innings. After two empty innings, the Lady Barons managed to connect for a pair of hits to assist in bringing home a run during the fifth inning. Savannah Cook reached base on a leadoff walk before Cailyn Snellgrove single to the shortstop. Cook then crossed the dish after an RBI groundout from BryAnn Pound before Alexis Bradshaw connected for the other single in the inning.
Faulkner tallied one final run in the sixth inning before shutting the door on Brewton-Parker in the seventh inning to secure the 5-2 win. BPC produced just three hits while Faulkner notched 12. Flowers and Cook scored the runs while Bradshaw, Flowers, and Snellgrove produced a hit each. Both Flowers and Pound notched an RBI. Abby Cox recorded two stolen bases while Bradshaw recorded one.
On the defensive side of the ball, Cook notched nine putouts followed by Olivia Whitt with three assists. Laykin Brown pitched all six innings for BPC. She allowed five earned runs on 12 hits while striking out one batter. vs. Stillman
Brewton-Parker faced Stillman to open the second day of tournament action in a“winorgohome”matchup. Both teams connected for a hit to open the first inning, but the opening inning resulted in a scoreless affair.
The Lady Barons utilized an error from Stillman, a single from Madisen Nelson, a sacrifice bunt from Chloe Strickland, and a passed ball to score the goahead run during the bottom of the second inning.
Stillman leveled the game during the top of the third inning with two hits before BPC reclaimed the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning. Erika Yatabe produced the lone single, but the Tigers produced two errors to aid the Lady Barons’ baserunning efforts.
After a swift and scoreless fourth inning, Stillman notched a run in the fifth and sixth inning to equalize the scoreline at 3-3. In the fifth inning, the Tiger connected for two hits and followed with another pair of hits alongside a BPC miscue in the sixth inning. With one out in the seventh inning, Abby Cox singled to the left side before stealing second. After another out, Yatabe reached first base with an intentional walk before MacKenzie Tripp connected for an RBI single to score Cox in walkoff fashion.
BPC produced a total of six hits while SC notched nine. Leah Henry, Tripp, Yatabe, and Cox all scored a run with Yatabe leading the Lady Barons with three hits.
Defensively, Nelson led BPC with eight putouts. Natalie Hardy pitched for six innings, giving up nine hits and three runs while striking out two batters. Laykin Brown closed out the final inning with one strikeout. vs. Middle Georgia
Middle Georgia opened the game with four runs split between the first two innings. The Knights totaled seven hits as well as left a total of three runs between the pair of innings. Brewton-Parker managed to respond in the third inning with an RBI flyout from Yatabe to bring home Cox to move the deficit to just three runs behind Middle Georgia. However, the Knights utilized three hits and a BPC error to score four runs in the bottom half of the inning to lead 8-1.
Abbey Flowers homered in the fourth inning to pull a run back with Strickland and Cailyn Snellgrove recorded base hits. BPC gained one final run back in the sixth inning as Savannah Cook singled and Snellgrove knocked an RBI single to score Cook. Middle Georgia outhit Brewton-Parker 10-5. Flowers, Cook, and Cox all scored a run with Snellgrove leading the way with two hits. Flowers notched her eighth home run of the season. Brown pitched all six innings, giving up six earned runs while walking one batter in the process.
Brewton-Parker closes out the 2022 campaign with a 24-25 overall record. The Lady Barons finished conference play with a 12-16 record.
