Kedra Curtis is tagged out at second by a Corner defender.
“Basically, we were making too many mistakes,” Munford head coach Darrell Smith said.
“You got the pitcher throwing strikes and making them hit the ball. In the first game, we made eight errors and in this game, we made six errors. You can’t beat good teams doing that. We started hitting the ball at times, but we made some mistakes base running and that falls back on me. I’ll take credit for that, but you go the whole day without scoring any runs you can’t win that way.”
In the first game of the tournament, Munford (21-12) lost 9-0 to Corner. Munford committed eight errors, which led to six runs for Corner.
At the plate Munford struggled as they only recorded one hit and struck out 12 times.
Kierra Groce’s infield single was the Lady Lions’ only hit.
Groce did what she could to keep the Lady Lions in the game from the circle.
The freshman only allowed three earned runs, which came off a home run.
The second game was more of the same as the Lions were unable to get timely hits and outs.
The third inning proved to be costly for Munford as they allowed the Lady Redskins to score three unearned runs with two out.
Groce was able to get the first two batters out.
Oneonta’s Baylee Gibbs extended the inning with a single. A pair of balls sailed to the backstop, which allowed Gibbs to get to third base.
An error on the first baseman on a Kelsey King pop up allowed Gibbs to come in to score to make it 2-0. Another passed ball allowed the run to advance to third base.
A fielding error on the second baseman allowed the runner to score from third to make it 3-0.
Another passed by ball allowed a run to score to make it 4-0.
In the fifth inning, the Lady Lions put together a strong rally, which ended up not leading to points.
Savanah Macoy led the inning out with a single to left field. Blakley Harrell singled to centerfield, which led to runners on second and first.
Kelsey Gallahar hit a single to center field.
Smith waved Browning round third, but she was beamed down by with a perfect throw to the center fielder. The catcher then threw out the runner trying to advance to third.
“We had a great opportunity,” Smith said.
“We had a runner throw out at the plate and one at third. We didn’t get the breaks today. You have to have a little luck in these games, but you also have to make plays. When they give you an out you have to take it. We just didn’t take our opportunities.”
The Lady Lions are losing six seniors off this year’s team, which includes: Tashayla Turner, Jessica Butterworth, Savannah Macoy, Laurel Browning, Kim Steffey, Kelsey Gallahar and Haley Hogan. Over the last four seasons, the seniors have won more than 80 games.
“We are going to miss them,” Smith said. “They have won over 80 games and they have shown leadership. A couple of them, like Tashayla Turner and Jessica Butterworth, are going to go on and play college ball at the next level. For the rest of them, this may be the end of their softball career. It is kind of bittersweet and sad for them. It is a just a new chapter in life. They are going to move on to be good citizens. If they learned something about how to raise a family and how to be productive out of life from softball, I’ll be happy.”
Contact LaVonte Young at lyoung@dailyhome.com. Follow him on Twitter @LYoung_DHSports.
