By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
April 30, 2002
The Clarkdale Bomb Squad has started its season off with a bang.
The girls under-10 softball team won the Gadsden Softball Classic in Gadsden, Ala. and finished second in Margo's Cargo Spring Kickoff Tournament in Brookhaven.
The team outscored its opponents 57-8 and played perfect defense in all three games to win the tournament in Gadsden.
In the first game of the round-robin tournament, the Bomb Squad defeated the USA-Rockets from Collinsville, Ala., 20-6.
The Bomb Squad scored six runs in the first inning to build an early lead. The Rockets got five based hits in the third inning to cut the lead to 6-5 after three innings of play.
The Bomb Squad came back to score seven runs in the fourth and another seven runs in the fifth inning to take the win.
Anna Lauren Fontenot was 2-for-3 with a walk while Cayla Coleman was 2-for-3 with two walks. Erin Adcock finished the game 3-for-4 with two doubles and Olivia Whitlock was 2-for-3 with a walk. Sara Beth Neely had a double and two walks in a 2-for-2 performance. Lauren Rogers was 4-for-4 with a triple and two doubles while Katie Sanders was 2-for-2 with a triple and double.
Summer Robinson pitched five innings and allowed only seven hits and a walk to pick up the win.
In the second game of the tournament, Clarkdale beat the Diamond Dolls of Jacksonville, Ala.,16-0.
Adcock pitched four inning and allowed only six hits and a couple of walks in the shut-out victory.
Laci Maxwell went 4-for-4 with a home run to lead the Bomb Squad. Paige Sheppard was 3-for-3 while Adcock was 2-for-3 with a triple. Whitlock was 2-for-3 and Sanders was 3-for-3. Rogers ended the day 3-for-3 with a double.
In the third game of the Gadsden Classic, Clarkdale defeated the Hurricanes from Piedmont, Ala. 21-2.
Robinson pitched four innings and allowed only one Hurricane to have multiple hits in the win.
Maxwell was 2-for-2 with two walks to go along with a double and home run. Sheppard was 2-for-3 with a walk and double. Fontenot was 2-for-4 with a homer while Adcock was 4-for-4 with a triple and two doubles. Coleman was 3-for-4 with a double and Whitlock had two triples in a 3-for-4 performance. Robinson was 2-for-2 with two walks and Rogers was 2-for-3 with a walk.
On Saturday, the Bomb Squad finished second in the Margo's Cargo Spring Kick-Off Tournament.
The tournament was a Round Robin/Single Elimination Tournament. The four teams played round robin first to decide which teams would face each other in the single elimination.
Clarkdale defeated Margo's Cargo 13-10 in the first game and then beat the Philadelphia Bruisers 14-9. Clarkdale finished the round robin portion of the tournament with a 3-0 record by defeating the Brookhaven Cruisers 34-4.
Brookhaven went 0-3 while Margo's Cargo went 1-2. Philadelphia placed second with a 2-1 record.
In the elimination rounds, the two last place teams faced off. Margo's Cargo won the game to move on to play second-place Philadelphia. Philadelphia pulled out the victory to face Clarkdale in the championship.
Clarkdale, meanwhile, had to wait four hours while the other teams played. The wait cost the Bomb Squad as they fell to Philadelphia 18-8 in the championship game.
Philadelphia scored 12 runs in the third inning and 12 runs in the fourth inning while Clarkdale struggled offensively.
With the loss Clarkdale fell to 3-1 in the tournament. Philadelphia, although it had lost to the Bomb Squad earlier in the day, went 4-1 in the tournament and was awarded first place because of the victory in the last game.
Maxwell, Sheppard, Fontenot, Adcock, Rogers and Jessie Clark all had home runs for the Bomb Squad during the tournament.
After the first two tournaments the Bomb Squad is 6-1 and best in the state. Philadelphia is 4-1 on the year and second in the state.
The two teams are expected to match up again this weekend in a tournament that will be held in Brandon.