After seeing their W.S. Neal Eagle baseball team rally in the final inning Monday to defeat T.R. Miller, the W.S. Neal Lady Eagle softball team did not want to be outdone Tuesday in their home area game against Thomasville.
Leading 2-1 until the top of the seventh inning, W.S. Neal saw Thomasville tie the game at 2-2.
Forced to play the bottom of the seventh, the Lady Eagles got a two-out game-winning single right on the first base foul line and RBI from Haley Lum to score Lauren Boatwright, who reached base after getting hit-by-pitch, from first and get a 3-2 win.
After the win, the Lady Eagle dugout erupted as Boatwright leaped into the open arms of W.S. Neal Lady Eagle head softball coach Jeff Haney and assistant Jason Blaney and others found Lum and celebrated with hugs for her.
The win improved the Lady Eagles to 7-5 overall and to 3-2 in area play.
“I don’t even know what to say after that,” W.S. Neal Lady Eagle softball coach Jeff Haney said after the thrilling win. “That is the best win in W.S. Neal softball history. That is the only thing I know to say. Thomasville is a great team and we played them to a 1-0 loss last week. It gave the girls confidence that they could play with that team. They showed that tonight.”
Haney said they had some people in some different spots and had to move some people around in the lineup in Tuesday’s game.
“We scattered some hits and left some runners on base,” Haney said. “We had some errors here and there, but we were able to overcome them and that is something we have not been able to do in the past. That is the difference between winning and losing and that is where we are heading. We are winning. It is a great win. I could not be happier. The girls played a great game and Kaitlin (Hadaway) did a great job pitching. She got us fly balls and ground balls all night. We made some plays when we needed to and got some hits when we needed to. I am just ready to soak this one in a little bit.”
The Lady Eagles trailed 1-0 after the first inning before taking a 2-1 lead in the second after a RBI single by Anna Nelson and another RBI by Kena Ellison.
Both teams scored runs in the seventh as W.S. Neal took the win by one.
Hadaway earned the win on the mound pitching seven innings allowing six hits, two runs, one earned, walked two and hit one and struck out 10.
Lum was 1-for-4 with the game-winning hit and RBI. Paige Grantham was 1-for-3 with a double and Nelson was 1-for-2 with an RBI.

Thomasville 13, WSNMS 2
In the JV game, W.S. Neal Middle School lost 13-2 to Thomasville.
The Lady Eagles were held to one hit in the loss.
Brittany Lucas pitched for the Lady Eagles and allowed six hits, walked five, struck out one, and hit three in four innings.
Thomasville scored one run in the first, four in the second, two in the third and six in the fourth while holding W.S. Neal to two runs in the third.