By Brannon King / For the FCT

The Russellville High School softball team took second place at the Class 5A, Area 16 tournament held at East Limestone May 3-4. The Lady Golden Tigers will advance to the 5A North Regional along with area champion Lawrence County.

North Regional play is scheduled to take place May 10-11 at the Huntsville Sportsplex, with RHS taking on Scottsboro in round one.

Class 5A, Area 16 Tournament

Lawrence County 12, Russellville 6

After wrapping up the regular season with a 4-3 loss at Austin, the Russellville team got started in the area tournament at East Limestone with a 19-15-1 record. Russellville, Lawrence County and East tied for the top spot in the area during the regular season, and East Limestone won the coin toss for No. 1 seed and the right to host.

Russellville head coach Kathryn Montgomery was on hand only a couple of days after giving birth to her second child. Staying outside the fence but near the dugout in a chair and in the shade, Montgomery showed how important her team is to her and was available for strategy and inspiration when needed.

The Lady Golden Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 first inning lead before the Lawrence County attack got going with a run in the second inning and five more in the third. Russellville answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to make the score 9-6. The Lady Red Devils finished the scoring with three insurance runs in the top of the last inning.

Russellville got hits from Krista Sikes, who was 4-for-4, Makala O’Neal (3), Autumn Logan (2), Alivia Clemmons (2), AJ Taylor (1) and Jenna Whitfield (1).

One of O’Neal’s hits was a double and she also scored a run. Logan had three RBIs for RHS, while Taylor and Clemmons had one each.

Russellville 11, Brooks 1

The Russellville girls got back onto the field Friday and took out Brooks in an elimination game.

It only took six innings for RHS to advance in their first game of the day. Russellville outhit the Lady Lions by an 11-2 margin. Eight Golden Tigers had hits in the victory, with Sydney Burcham, Clemmons and Karlie Moore having two each. Lauren Rogers, Whitfield, O’Neal, Taylor and Sikes all had one hit apiece.  Logan and Maddy Green both helped the cause by scoring a run. Meanwhile, Chalea Clemmons reached base via a walk, and fellow seventh-grader Whitfield led the team with two RBIs.

Sikes got the start in the pitching circle and worked four innings. She was followed by Emma Whitfield and Chalea Clemmons for a strong pitching performance by the trio.

Russellville 9, East Limestone 4

The RHS girls went into their game against the Lady Indians knowing that with a win, they would assure themselves of no worse than second place in the tournament and would secure a place in regionals.

Russellville started off well and held a 5-0 lead going into the game’s sixth inning. East Limestone tried for a rally by plating three runs in the top of the frame, but RHS answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning.

Taylor and Logan both had home runs for RHS. Taylor was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, and she scored four runs. The sophomore centerfielder also had a double, a stolen base and a walk. Burcham had two hits for RHS and Moore, O’Neal and Jenna Whitfield all had one hit each.

Megan Warhurst pitched the game and got the win. She threw 78 pitches and allowed only two earned runs, and she struck out two and walked none.

Lawrence County 8, Russellville 7

It was a rematch of game one for the Area 16 championship, and Lawrence County was too much for RHS for the second straight time.

Russellville held a 7-4 advantage going into the seventh inning and looked to be on the way to victory until Chloe Orr of Lawrence County hit a three-run home run to tie the score and send the game to an extra inning. In the eighth, Moesha McDaniel singled home the game-winning run to give the Red Devils the first-place trophy.