By: Grace Grosenbach

The Brantley Bulldog softball team enjoyed a successful week in Orange Beach, Ala., as they battled hard to be the tournament champions at the Gulf Coast Classic.

The Bulldogs played a total of nine games in the tournament last week, defeating 4A, 5A and 6A teams.

The first game was against 1A school Shades Mountain on Monday. Freshman Anna Kimbro, junior Lainey Wells and sophomore Olivia Jones each had three hits to propel the Bulldogs to the 22-0 win over Shades Mountain.

Junior Leanna Johnson lead the way defensively against 6A team John Carroll. Johnson struck out 13 of her opponents Monday night. On offense, sophomores Kassidy Wilcox and Olivia Jones had three hits each, and freshman Emory Bush had three hits and three runs. The final score of the Brantley-John Carroll game was 7-0.

The games continued on Tuesday, March 28 with the Bulldogs’ first opponent being Clay-Chalkville, a 6A team. Anna Kimbro drove in three runs for the Bulldogs, and senior Alex Wilcox had two hits of her own. On defense, Johnson pitched a shut out against Clay-Chalkville, and struck out six people Tuesday morning to bring the final score to 10-0.

The final game for Tuesday was against 4A team Cherokee. Eight grader Lauren Hudson stepped up to the pitcher’s mound for this game, and struck out six of her opponents. Both Alex and Kassidy Wilcox had two hits during the Cherokee game, and Bush had three hits. This victory put Brantley’s record at 28-2 with the final score of the game being 16-1.

On Wednesday, the Bulldogs played nothing but 5A and 6A teams in the last few rounds of the championship.

The first game was against Fort Payne (6A). Alex Wilcox had two hits and one RBI, while Johnson was back on the mound, striking out five of Fort Payne’s batters.

In the next round, Brantley faced Alexandria. Johnson came out strong against Alexandria, throwing yet another shutout to put the Bulldogs on top with a score of 1-0 as the final.

The third game for Wednesday was between Brantley and 6A team Northview. The Bulldogs managed to score a few more runs than the previous two games, and still held well on defense with a final score of 7-1 against Northview.

The final round leading up to the tournament championship was against Oxford (6A). Jones had a triple and an RBI, while Alex Wilcox also had a double. Johnson held her spot at the mound, striking out 12 opponents. The Bulldogs defeated Oxford 2-0, which brought them to the championship game.

In the championship game, the Bulldogs played Austin (6A). Kassidy Wilcox had two hits for Brantley and Johnson threw another shutout while striking out eight of Austin’s batters. The Bulldogs became tournament champions with a final score of 3-0, which also brought their record for the season to 33-2.