The T.R. Miller Lady Tigers softball team held off a late W.S. Neal rally Thursday in Brewton to defeat the Lady Eagles 8-7. The win moved TRM to 2-0 over WSN this season and to 7-1 overall this year while WSN suffered their sixth straight loss to fall to 3-9 overall.
The two teams played to a 1-all tie after one inning, but errors in the field hurt WSN in the second inning as they made three errors and gave up three runs to TRM in the inning to fall behind 4-1.
After both teams scored one run each in the third inning, TRM again plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take an 8-2 lead over the Lady Eagles.
TRM held their six-run lead over WSN until the top of the sixth inning when the Lady Eagles plated five runs on two hits to close the gap to 8-7. Neither team would score the rest of the game as the Lady Tigers were able to hang on for the one-run win. The one-run win was TRM’s fifth this season.
“It was a good win,” Lady Tiger head coach Greg White said. “We had a chance to put them away early and I wished we would have. We made plays there at the end to hang on. I thought we played well. We just left a few plays out there that made the score a little different.”
White said anytime you win against W.S. Neal it is a good thing.
“And I am sure they feel the same way,” he said. “We are glad to get it anyway we can take it. I am proud of the effort. We didn’t crack under pressure there at the end when we had a chance to do that and I appreciate that.”
WSN Lady Eagles head coach Jeff Haney said that once again this season, his team’s defense let them down.
“Offensively, I thought we hit the ball pretty well,” Haney said. “We hit it enough to win. If we don’t play defense, we don’t win no matter who we are playing. We are just having trouble making routine plays. It has just got the best of us this year. We are going to have to keep working and hope it will come around. Coach Greg White and T.R. Miller did a great job tonight. Congratulations to them. If we make the plays, it is a different outcome.”
For TRM at the plate, Madison Douglas had a single and a RBI while Steely Ruzic had two singles and one RBI.
Mallori Floyd added two doubles and three RBIs while Krystal Bell, Leslie Holmes, Grace Ruzic and Mary Madison Brown all had a single each. Bell had one RBI in the win.
Taylor Austin earned the pitching win as she went seven innings and allowed seven hits, seven runs, five earned, walked two, struck out four and hit three batters.
For WSN at the plate, Karissa Johnson had two singles and one RBI while Haleigh Dubose had a double and two singles and two RBIs.
Adria Barnett added a single along with Erin Hartsel who had one RBI.
Dubose took the pitching loss as she went six innings and allowed nine hit, eight runs, four earned, walked none, hit none and struck out five.