It was a good start for the W.S. Neal Lady Eagle softball team Friday in the TRM Invitational, but not a good ending on Saturday when the Lady Eagles fell to 5-4 this season with a 2-2 record in the tournament.
The Lady Eagles began play Friday with a 6-5 win over J.U. Blacksher and a 7-1 win over Daleville. On Saturday, W.S. Neal lost to Houston Academy 6-3 and to Escambia County 3-0 to be eliminated.
“This weekend started out great for us as we got a couple of wins on Friday,” W.S. Neal head coach Jeff Haney said. “We were very up and down against a good Houston Academy team Saturday morning and just made too many mistakes on defense. The Atmore game is hard for me to explain. Our bats were almost non-existent and defense was not good. Kaitlin (Hadaway) pitched well in the game and that is probably the only thing that went as planned against the Blue Devils. The weather didn’t make it any easier, but ECHS was playing in the same conditions. Our pitching was solid all weekend and I’m proud of Kaitlin and Haleigh (Dubose) for the way they threw in the cold weather. Kaeli Brown had a hot bat through the entire tournament. I hope our team learns from the poor performance as we prepare for the first area (games of the season).”
W.S. Neal began area play Tuesday against Cottage Hill.
WSN 6, JUB 5
In game one Friday, W.S. Neal edged out J.U. Blacksher 6-5.
Christina Robinson was 2-for-3 with one RBI and KeKe Floyd was 1-for-3 with a triple and one RBI. Brown was 1-for-4.
Hadaway went seven innings and struck out seven while allowing one earned run.
WSN 7, Daleville 1
In game two, W.S. Neal held Daleville to only one hit in a 7-1 win.
Kena Ellison was 2-for-3 with two RBIs while Hadaway was 1-for-3 with a triple. Brown was 1-for-2 with a double and one RBI.
Hadaway went three innings on the mound and allowed one hit and struck out eight while Dubose went one inning and struck out two
Houston Academy 6, WSN 3
In their first game on day two, Houston Academy doubled up the Lady Eagles 6-3.
At the plate, Tori Wyatt was 2-for-2 with a double and one run scored while Brown was 1-for-2.
On the mound, Hadaway went 2 2/3 innings and allowed six hits and struck out one. Dubose went 1 1/3 innings and allowed no hits.
ECHS 3, WSN 0
Facing elimination, Escambia County eliminated the Lady Eagles with a 3-0 win.
Brown was 2-for-2 at the plate and Dubose was 1-for-2. Hadaway pitched five innings and allowed six hits, one earned run and struck out eight.