Tigers claim area title

Published 4:30 pm Wednesday, May 6, 2009

If the date change of Greenville’s area tournament affected the players, they didn’t show it as the Tigers shut out Monroe County twice yesterday to claim the Class 5A, Area 4 championship.

“The girls came out ready to play,” said head coach Donna Sunnycalb. “I’m very proud of how they played. I knew they were capable of it, and we should have been playing like this all year.”

Sunnycalb said she was particularly excited for the team’s seniors.

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“This is the first area championship they’ve had in the five years I’ve been here,” she said.

Greenville blew the first game open in the second inning on the way to a 6-0 win.

Marvia Scott reached base on a single in the first inning and Cortnee Meyers brought her around to score.

In the second, Abby Blackmon, Raquel Williams and Scott all put runs on the board, and Meyers also had another RBI.

Before the game was over, Scott would score twice more — once in the fourth inning and once in the sixth on a hit by Nikia Powell.

Scott ended the first game with six stolen bases.

“Marvia has been a true leadoff hitter for us,” Sunnycalb said. “She’s been doing a great job of getting on base, and she’s been a big threat.”

The two games against MCHS gave Scott over 30 stolen bases for the season.

“There aren’t too many times that she gets on base that she’s not going to score,” Sunnycalb said.

In the second game of the tournament, Greenville didn’t let up with an 8-0 win.

Powell drew a walk in the first inning, and Norton brought her home.

In the second inning, Scott, Powell, Williams and Elizabeth Richardson put runs on the board, and Meyers and Norton had RBIs.

The Tigers put three more runs on the board in the third inning with yet another RBI from Meyers and runs scored by Hollie Halford, Blackmon and Richardson.

Sunnycalb said a big part of Greenville’s success was the strong pitching from Meyers in the first game and Telesha McDonald in game two.

“We had a really good showing on the mound with both shutouts,” she said.

The Tigers will now travel to Gulf Shores this Friday for the regional tournament, where Greenville will likely face St. Paul’s.