GDW Analysis:
HANCEVILLE: New Hanceville softball coach Kim Lewis had her Lady Bulldogs on the brink of a major victory for their program Wednesday at Jack Howell Field.
Hanceville had defending county champion Good Hope down 7 to 5 when the game entered the 6th inning.
Good Hope used the long ball to take the lead and added two insurance runs in the 7th for an 11 to 7 victory. This was the Lady Raiders' 2nd win in a row after they had romped by Danville Tuesday 8 to 1 in the 4A Area 13 opener.
This would be a clash with Good Hope going on top and Hanceville coming back through the first two innings.
Hanceville then shut Good Hope down in the 3rd and went ahead at 7 to 4 on timely hits in leading the encounter for the first time on the afternoon.
Good Hope got a run in its side of the 5th on a sacrifice bunt by Ella Agee that scored Carlee Trammell in leading off the inning with a single. A throw to 3rd to get Trammell was wide with the run closing the margin to 7 to 5.
Campbell Koch singled in Kylee Smith with one out in the 6th and the score was narrowed to 7 to 6.
With 2 outs, Trammell was hit by a pitch then Kynzlee Garmon drilled a pitch over the left field fence for 3 runs and the Lady Raiders moved on top 9 to 7.
Bella White and Smith tallied runs in the 7th to send Good Hope to the bottom of the inning with an 11 to 7 advantage.
Molly Benefield, who relived Smith in the 4th, retired the Lady Bulldogs in order in the 7th to end the game at 4:14 p.m.
Benefield yielded 0 runs on 3 hits with 3 strikeouts to be credited with the victory.
Garmon would drive in 4 runs to lead the Good Hope hitters. Smith scored four times, collecting 2 singles, a double and stole a base.
Trammell had a run scoring single, Koch a run scoring single and run scoring double.
Hanceville highlights included a 1 out run scoring single in the 1st by Isabella Spinks, an RBI single from Karrigan Pipkin, Piper Butts with a 2 run single. Makayla Butler scored twice from the leadoff spot in the lineup, having a double and a walk and a fielders choice in three trips to the plate.
Good Hope is 7 & 5 while Hanceville fell to 6/8/1.
Photo of the Good Hope Lady Raiders at the Gardendale Invitational February 27.
Photo courtesy of Dusty Benefield.
