By By Austin Bishop / EMG regional sports director
March 2, 2004
The bottom of the order set the table for Northeast Lauderdale on Monday afternoon and the top went to a hitting buffett as the Lady Trojans rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 7-2 fast-pitch softball win over visiting Quitman High School.
Northeast, now 3-2 overall on the season and 1-0 in Division 5-4A play, worked the bases loaded in the decisive inning thanks to a pair of walks and an infield single wrapped around a pair of outs. That gave Jana Olczak, Kara Hull and Amber Gray the top three hitters in the order the opportunity they were looking for.
With the score tied at 2-2, Olczak put the Lady Trojans ahead on an infield single. Hull, who had a pair of doubles early in the game, put Northeast Lauderdale up 5-2 with a two-run single to right. Gray all but closed the door on Quitman's hopes with a two-run single of her own to put the winners up by five.
Quitman scored a run in the top of the first, but Northeast Lauderdale countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead.
The Lady Panthers tied the game in the top of the fourth thanks to a double by Rebecca Riley and a pair of NEL errors.
While the bottom of the sixth gave Northeast Lauderdale the big offensive push it needed, things certainly didn't begin well for the Lady Trojans.
The lead-off batter recorded an out after inheriting a two ball, two strike count because NEL sent the incorrect batter to the plate for the first four pitches.
Capri Norris followed with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, Savannah Hall legged out an infield single to short to put runners on the corners with two outs.
No. 9 hitter Shelley Odom then worked the Quitman pitcher for a walk to load the bases to bring the top of the NEL order to the plate. Olczak, Hull and Gray then delivered to push the Lady Trojans to the win.
Olczak, the winning pitcher, had three hits for NEL, as did Hull.
Northeast Lauderdale returns to action on Thursday when the Lady Trojans travel to Wayne County for their second division game of the year. Quitman hosts South Jones on the same day.