Ponytail tourney back on schedule
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, June 29, 2004
It hasn’t been easy for Greenville Parks and Recreation officials and field crews to keep the Dixie Softball District 6 Sub 1 Ponytails softball tournament on schedule.
Following heavy thunderstorms over the weekend and a downpour Monday afternoon, crews had to work extra hard to get the fields dry and ready for play.
Only one inning of the Greenville/Covington County game was played Saturday afternoon before the torrential rains blew in and forced a cancellation. Crews were up and at it bright and early Sunday morning preparing the fields in hopes of playing the rescheduled games. After only one game, the games were again postponed due to heavy rains.
Monday night, the Parks and Recreation Department hosted five games, two rescheduled from Saturday and three scheduled games. Despite an hour and a half delay early in the evening, all games were played putting the tournament back on schedule.
Greenville Parks and Recreation Director Jerome Harris said the weekend seemed to never end.
&uot;It’s been real, real hard on my crew,&uot; Harris said. &uot;It’s been hard on us. We’ve been working in the rain and the lightning. It’s been real rough. They’ve been doing the same thing at Day Park for the Dixie Minor Tournament. I’ve got to commend my crew because so far they have worked real hard.&uot;
Greenville concluded the tournament last night at 11:30 p.m. having to forfeit 9-4 lead in the top of the fifth to Luverne after a substitution protest.
&uot;There was a misunderstanding with what inning the subs have to be put in Dixie Ponytails,&uot; Harris said. &uot;All subs have to be made by the top of the fourth inning. The coach forgot and made his substitutions at the beginning of the fifth inning. The other team picked it up and protested.&uot;
Players must play two consecutive innings.
Brantley 21
Highland Home 5
Highland Home’s 5-3 first-inning lead Monday night was short lived as Brantley scored 14 runs in the third inning to pick up a 21-5 win and stay alive in the double-elimination tournament.
Highland Home’s pitching staff surrendered 21 walks in the game, which resulted in 14 runs.
Hillary Hudson led Brantley with a triple, RBI and scored two runs. Adriana Alejo chipped in with a RBI double.
Macy Owens and Samantha Rayborn added one single each. Amber Hall, Brittany Southard and Miranda Wolfe scored three runs each.
Haley Dansby led Highland Home with a triple and a run scored. Amber McKenzie, Candice Dunn and Rebecca Sexton scored one run each.
Troy 10
Covington County 9
Troy scored three runs in the sixth inning to bounce back from a 9-7 deficit and edge Covington County 10-9 Monday night. The loss also eliminated Covington from the Dixie Softball District 6 Sub 1 Ponytails tournament.
The three runs were made possible following a Nicole Jones walk, Rebekah Massey single and a Shelby Broadway hit.
Broadway led Troy with a double, single and two runs, followed by Rebekah Massey with a single and four runs scored.
Courtney Wood finished with a single and scored one run for Troy, Sara Richburg also had a single and Jones scored three runs.
Robin Weaver led Covington County with a double, single and a run scored. Erica Slaughter slapped two singles and scored two runs in the game and Andrea Baker and Tori Bracewell each added a single.
Highland Home 10
Elba 3
Shortstop Amber McKenzie slapped a single and drove in three runs to lead Highland Home to 10-3 win over Elba in a makeup game on Monday afternoon.
Candice Dunn also had a good day at the plate for Highland Home as she finished with a triple, single and two RBI. Halley Dansby chipped in with a double and Laken Thomas finished with a single and scored two runs.
Erika Mount led Elba’s offense with a triple. Nicole Hollaway finished the afternoon with a single.
Luverne 12
Troy 1
A five run second inning and a six run third inning was all Luverne’s girls needed to knock off Troy 12-1 Monday afternoon.
Taylor Wright and Jalecia Willis led Luverne with one double and one single each. Wright also scored three runs in the win.
Tara Walden, Jordan Jones and Lakedria Hall chipped in with a single each.
Sara Richburg and Melissa Cain led Troy with a single each.
Greenville 14
Covington County 1
Shortstop Nicole Norton belted a two-run homer and drove in two more runs as she legged out a triple in the fifth inning to lead Greenville to a big 14-1 win over Covington County Sunday afternoon.
Erin Taylor, Lauren Christ and Anne Blake each slapped a doubles to contribute in the win. Blake finished with one RBI, Taylor scored two runs and Christ crossed the plate once.
Marvia Scott added an RBI single for Greenville and Anna Nelson finished with a single.
Candace McNeil and Hannah Twitty led CC with one single each.
Greenville 13
Highland Home 1
Greenville’s pitching staff allowed only one run on no hits to easily defeat Highland Home 13-1 Friday night in the first round of the Dixie Softball District 6 Sub 1 Ponytails tournament.
Erin Taylor led Greenville with a double and two RBI, while Abbey Martin slapped two singles and drove in one run. Nicole Norton chipped in with an RBI triple and Katie Wilson finished with an RBI single. Lori Fails also legged out a triple, hit a single and scored two runs.
Candice Dunn scored Highland Home’s lone run.
Troy 13
Elba 10
Carmen Debose homered, doubled, drove in two runs and scored twice, while Tiffany Wingard smacked a double, two singles and drove in two runs as the duo led Troy to a 13-10 first-round win over Elba Friday.
Jauqueja Booker finished with an RBI double for Troy and Nicole Jones and Courtney Wood added RBI singles. Shelby Broadway also drove in one run.
Erika Mount hit a two-run single to lead Elba’s offense. Nicole Hollaway doubled, singled and scored four runs in the loss.
Luverne 10
Brantley 9
Luverne opened up the tournament with a 10-9 victory over Brantley Friday afternoon giving fans a small glimpse of what’s to come in the Ponytails tournament.
Taylor Wright paced Luverne’s offense with two singles, two RBI and one run scored. Lacey Jones finished the game with a triple and scored two runs, while Tiffany Weeks singled and scored three runs.
Nicki Bailey led Brantley with a three-run double. The second baseman also scored two runs.
Eisha Person finished the game with two singles for Brantley and Amber Hall had a single.