By By Tim Cottrell
The Escambia County Lady Devils stayed busy throughout the weekend at the Orange Beach Softball Complex for the Gulf Shores Tournament.
The Lady Devils struggled in their two friday games, falling to Jackson and Gulf Shores.
"We struggled Friday in all aspects of the game," said Lady Devil coach Jeff Haney. "Saturday it was like someone flipped a switch. Everything that went wrong on Friday went right on Saturday."
The Lady Devils came out early Saturday morning for a 9:00 a.m. showdown with UMS-Wright. ECHS avenged an 8-1 loss earlier this season with a 4-3 win over their area foe. The Lady Devils then took on Millry High School. The Lady Devils came away with a hard-fought 3-2 win.
The two Saturday morning contests ended pool play in the tournament, and the Lady Devils entered the elimination round seeded eighth, where they drew fifth-seeded Demopolis. The Lady Devils played as well as they had all season despite falling 1-0.
"We got better (as the tournament went along)," Haney said. "We played our best game against Demopolis even though we lost. We didn't commit a single error, we just failed to get a run across the plate."
EA 11,
Wilcox 3
The Escambia Academy Lady Cougars once again rolled through the competition, defeating Wilcox Academy 11-3 Monday in Canoe.
Stacey Gibbs picked up the win for EA, pitching all seven innings with five strikeouts and only two walks. Cynthia Allen batted 2-3 with three RBI and Meagan Jackson was 1-1 and was walked three times.
The Lady Cougars improved to 4-2 on the season.
Darrell Jackson, head coach of the Lady Cougars, felt like his team was coming together.
"I think we have a good chance (to compete for a championship)," Jackson said. "We can get in the playoffs. We're growing as a team, and we're learning. We've cut down on a lot of mistakes and our bats are coming alive."
Jackson was also proud of his team's leadership.
"Our seniors Meagan Jackson, Rayleen Miller, and Keisha Lee have shown a lot of leadership for us," Jackson said. "Lori Bonds and Stacey Gibbs have been big at the plate for us and everyone has stepped it up at one point or another."
The Lady Cougars next face off against Cottage Hill Academy Friday in Canoe.
Crestview 9, Northview 2
One crack of the bat changed what seemed to be a developing big win for the Lady Chiefs of Northview.
The Lady Chiefs lead 4A Crestview 2-1 in the fifth inning of the Monday afternoon contest when a line-drive hit pitcher Cassie Godwin squarely in the head. Godwin left the game on a stretcher bound for Baptist Hospital. Lady Chief coach Sammy Day said Godwin would be fine.
"I haven't talked to her today," Day said Monday. "I last talked to her about about 10:00 last night and she said she'd be back in school late today."
Day said the game completely turned following Godwin's departure.
"We thought about calling the game," Day said. "We would have had to forfeit so I talked to the girls. They were all upset and crying but they said they wanted to finish the game out. We just started making a ton of errors and it got us beat."
The Lady Chiefs managed only two hits in the game, one from Darbi Langhorne and the other from Kayla Presley.
Northview 3, Baker 1
The Lady Chiefs got their first win of the season Friday night and crossed home plate for the first time of the season as well in a 3-1 win over the previously unbeaten Baker Lady Gators in Molino.
Stephanie Covan drove in the first run of the season for the Lady Chiefs in the first inning. The Lady Chiefs added two more in the sixth to provide the winning margin.
Lady Chief coach Sammy Day was relieved to finally get on the scoreboard.
"We broke the ice," Day said, laughing. "It felt good. We really played good Friday night and I was glad to see it."
Stephanie Covan lead the Chiefs, batting 2-3 with a triple. Cassie Godwin batted 1-3 with a double, as well as pitched a complete game, allowing only three hits and striking out twelve. Darbie Langhorne was 1-3, Hannah Gunter hit 1-2 with a double, and Rachel Killam batted 1-3 for the Lady Chiefs.
"Cassie probably pitched the game of her life," Day said. "She really pitched well. She's kept us in a lot of games this year."