The W.S. Neal softball team inched closer to the area championship game and a game closer to making it to the south regionals in Gulf Shores Tuesday at home as they took down the Bayside Academy Admirals 7-0 in the opening game of the two-day area tournament. The Lady Eagles improved to 13-12 with the win.
The Lady Eagles of East Brewton struck for four runs in the first inning and added two more in the second and one in the fourth while holding the Lady Admirals scoreless to get the 7-0 win.
“It is great to win our first game in the area tournament,” W.S. Neal head coach Jeff Haney said. “It puts us one step closer to where we want to be. Our goal from the beginning of the season has been to win the area championship. That is what we intend to do. We had to get this win under our belt and we did. We hit the ball a little better than we have been. We have been working a lot since our last game. Hopefully it continues to get better. Some of these girls are working real hard and the rest of them, they have to jump on board because we are going to take this thing to Gulf Shores (south regional). Kaitlin (Hadaway) did a good job of pitching for us. She kept us in it and kept them off the scoreboard. That is what it takes…us scoring and them not.”
Hadaway went the complete game and allowed no runs, one hit, walked one and struck out 10.
At the plate for the Lady Eagles, Kaeli Brown had two singles and KeKe Floyd added a single. Haleigh Dubose also had a single in the win. Tori Wyatt, Floyd and Dubose all had one RBI each.
W.S. Neal will be back in action Thursday in the tournament in East Brewton when they play Cottage Hill in a winner’s bracket game at 2 p.m. Cottage Hill defeated T.R. Miller 9-2 to advance Tuesday night. With a win, W.S. Neal will be in the championship game that is set for 6 p.m. and will clinch a spot in the regionals in Gulf Shores. With a loss in their 2 p.m. game Thursday, W.S. Neal will play at 4 p.m. against T.R. Miller.