Latexo Crushes Slocum, 18-2

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

LATEXO – There was good news and bad news on the Latexo softball field Tuesday evening. First the bad news. The Lady Tigers allowed more runs in their game against the Slocum Mustangs than they had during the entire District 25-2A season, so far.

The good news is – it didn’t matter, as Latexo crushed their guests from Anderson County by a score of 18-2.

As the game got underway, it seemed like the outcome might work out a little differently. Lauren Woodard was in the circle to open the game for the Lady Tigers and she ran into some trouble during the opening frame.

She struck out Slocum’s Marlee Lasiter to lead things off but then gave up a single to M. Bedre. Following the single, Woodard walked Lexi Bennet and Emma Gibson to juice the bases with only one out.

Woodard, however, followed up with three-pitch strikeout of Addie Bowman and got Rayli Teems to fan on four to get out of the bases-loaded jam and bring the Lady Tigers in from the field.

When Latexo came up to bat in their half of the first inning, the Lady Tigers exploded for eight runs. Charlee Biano led off with a single to center off of Lasiter, who was in the circle for the Lady Mustangs, and then promptly stole second. Shelby Eberts followed with a double to left to plate Biano with the game’s first run.

Natalie Nicol was up next and drew a walk, but in her at-bat, Eberts moved to third on a wild pitch. After she walked, Nicol moved to second on defensive indifference. She wasn’t there long as Katy Allen ripped a double into right field to drive in both Eberts and Nicol which made the score 3-0.

Mally Moore followed in the batting order and reached safely on an infield hit to short which held Allen at second. Cammy Parrish was the next Lady Tiger to find her way to the plate and she delivered a two-run double to left to push the Latexo margin out to 5-0.

First baseman Taylor Dise was up next and recorded the first out when she just missed a pitch and popped up to short. Woodard followed with a grounder up the middle to knock in Parrish. The pitcher was lifted for courtesy runner Katy Goolsby who moved to second when Marissa Alison grounded into a 5-3 force.

That brought Biano up again and this time, she drew a walk. A passed ball moved Goolsby to third and Biano to second while Eberts cleared the bases with a single past third to push the Latexo lead out to 8-0.

After Lasiter managed to get Nicol to ground out to end the first inning, Woodard returned to the circle and had a much easier go round in the second. She gave up a lead-off walk but then struck out the next two batters she faced, before forcing Lasiter to pop up to short for the final out.

Latexo tacked on two more runs in the bottom half of the inning. Allen led off with a single and then stole second. Moore followed with a base knock to advance Allen to third and took second on the throw from the outfield.

Parrish was next in the line-up and slapped her second double of the game into left to push Allen and Moore across the plate, which made the score 10-0. That was all the Lady Tigers could muster in the second, however, as Dise grounded out to third while Woodard popped up to second and Allison flew out to center.

Despite being down 10, Slocum never gave up and crossed the plate twice in the top of the third. Bedre led off with a single to center, but Bennet followed with a strike out. Gibson moved Bedre to second with a grounder up the middle and Bedre scampered home when Teems slapped a double into the centerfield gap. Gibson moved to third on the play and then stole home to trim the Latexo lead to 10-2. Teems made it to third but was stranded when Paterson popped up to Woodard for the third out.

When the Lady Tigers came in to bat, they crossed the plate another eight times. Biano led off the inning with a triple to center and scored on an Eberts sacrifice fly. Nicol followed with her first hit of the game and moved to third on an Allen double.

Moore lined a single into center to drive in Nicol from third while Allen took her place on the bag while Moore moved to second on the throw in from the outfield. Parrish was up next and on a 1-1 pitch she hammered a pitch that left the yard in a hurry for a three-run homerun.

The crowd was still buzzing when Dise settled into the batter’s box and she gave the Latexo faithful even more to cheer about. On a 2-0 pitch, Dise saw one she liked, turned on it and sent a mammoth blast over the center field fence to make the score 16-2.

The Lady Tigers went on to add two more runs before the game was called with a final score of 18-2.

Woodard was credited with the win after going three innings. She gave up two runs on four hits while striking out seven and walking two.

Latexo was led at the plate by Cammy Parrish who was 3-3 with a homerun, seven RBI and two runs scored. Charlee Biano was 3-3 with four runs scored and one RBI while Shelby Eberts was 2-3 with four RBI and a run scored. Katy Allen and Mally Moore were both 3-3 with three runs scored. Taylor Dise was also 1-3 with a homerun.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].