By By Marty Stamper / staff writer
September 15, 2004
CHOCTAW There was a case of 'old school' slow-pitch softball Tuesday at Choctaw Central as the Lady Warriors and top-ranked West Lauderdale combined for 40 runs, 50 hits, and 10 errors.
And for the defensive-minded, there was even a triple play.
West improved to 14-0 overall and 8-0 in Division 5-3A with a 23-17 win over Choctaw that left Lady Knights head coach Jerry Boatner more disappointed than pleased. And with good reason.
The Lady Knights jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the second inning only to give up eight runs on seven hits and an error in the bottom of the second. Sheila Willis had a two-run single with Kemo Willis adding a two-run double for Choctaw.
West built its lead back up to 18-8 in the top of the fourth only to have the Lady Warriors cut their deficit in half in the bottom of the inning.
"I was very, very, very disappointed," Boatner said. "I feel like we lost the game. We had a six-run lead early and with the way we play defense, that should have held.
"But you've got to give Choctaw Central credit. They hit the ball hard and it seemed like they got hits when they got runners on base.
"Our defense let us down. Not only our defense, but we had some mental mistakes. I tried to warn these girls that it's like this every time we come here and they still played like they never had any coaching. They played like they had never played before."
At the plate, the Lady Knights were another story.
West had 28 hits. Kayla Eubanks went 4-for-6 with two RBIs. She also scored three runs. Josie Matthews was also 4-for-6 with three RBIs and scored four runs. Katie McAlister was 3-for-6 with six RBIs.
Holly Herrington went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and scored three runs. Morgan Gullette was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and scored three runs. Also going 3-for-5 were Kristi Lantz and Ashley Helms. Winning pitcher Sommer Jones (14-0) had two hits and three RBIs. Sara Havard had two hits and two RBIs.
"Eubanks is the one that's hot," Boatner said of his sophomore right-center fielder. "She had four hits and one out that was a shot.
"I have no complaints about our hitting. We drove the ball hard. A lot of our outs were hit hard, but our defense and our focus wasn't there."
Choctaw Central, which fell to 4-8 overall and 3-5 in 5-3A, didn't do badly at the plate either as the Lady Warriors had 22 hits. Kemo Willis was 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while Sheila Willis, Tesa York, Shanse Steve, and April Bell each had three hits. Stacy Dixon, Brittany Murphy, and Tiffany Briscoe each had two hits.