In their final home game, the W.S. Neal Lady Eagle softball and their seniors picked up a 6-1 win over the Florala Lady Wildcats to improve their overall record to 9-10.
W.S. Neal led 2-0 after the first inning and 3-0 after the second. Following a scoreless third inning for both teams, W.S. Neal plated three runs in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead.
Florala would add a late run in the sixth inning while W.S. Neal failed to score the rest of the game, but claimed the five-run win.
“We only have three seniors (Britta Wood, Haley Lum, and Heather Elliott) and we are going to miss them,” W.S. Neal Lady Eagle head coach Jeff Haney said. “They have been with us for awhile and they are going to be hard to replace. It was an emotional thing for them playing their last game at home. We had the senior award presentation and there were some distractions and our minds were somewhere else for a little while. We got them and were able to win the game.”
“It took us a few innings to get them back, but I think our pitcher, Kaitlin Hadaway, had that delay before the game and warming up as the presentation delayed her. I think that hurt her in the first few innings but she settled down and finished the deal. We hit the ball a little bit better than we have been. We just have to keep it going. We have one more game again next week at Florala and we roll into the area tournament when we find out where that is going to be. I am proud of all the girls. They have worked hard and the seniors did a great job in their last home game.”
Hadaway went the distance on the mound for the Lady Eagles and allowed two hits, one run, none earned, walked three and hit one and struck out 12.
At the plate for W.S. Neal, Lauren Boatwright and Paige Grantham were both 1-for-3 with Grantham having an RBI single in the second inning.
Lum was 2-for-4 with a triple in the first inning along with an RBI. Anna Nelson was 2-for-2 with two singles and one RBI.
Kena Ellison was 1-for-4 with a single in the sixth inning and Hadaway was 2-for-3 with two singles.
W.S. Neal left 10 runners on base and made three errors while Florala left seven runners on base and made three errors.