Prep Softball: Clarkdale survives against Sumrall

Published 6:00 am Sunday, May 8, 2011

Clarkdale's Amber Spann tries to slide in to make a catch on a short pop fly just over the infield as Lindsey Beard assists Saturday against Sumrall.

    With Sumrall facing elimination, Clarkdale expected a battle from the Bobcats on Saturday.

    The Bulldogs got exactly that as Sumrall pushed Clarkdale to the limits before succumbing to a 6-5 loss that propelled the Bulldogs out of the Class 3A second round with a sweep and into South State. Clarkdale will face St. Patrick with a state championship berth on the line, with the Bulldogs hosting Game 1 on Thursday.

    “It’s always tougher to beat a team a second time,” Clarkdale assistant coach Britt Bennett said. “Their back’s against the wall, so they’re going to play harder obviously.”

    After Clarkdale (22-5) took a 4-1 lead in the second, Sumrall started chipping away. The Bobcats added one run in the third as Marlen Vasquez reached on an error and scored on a Courtney Cooper single. The Bobcats, who left two on in the third, fourth and fifth innings, tied Clarkdale in the fifth.

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    After Cheyenne Barefoot reached on an error, Amanda Emerson walked and Brittney McCray reached on a fielder’s choice, with Barefoot scoring. After Clarkdale recorded the second out at home on a fielder’s choice, Jill Hutchinson doubled to tie the game at 4.

    Sumrall didn’t stop there. The Bobcats got a leadoff single from Vasquez to open the sixth and after advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt from Sammy Gill, she darted home with the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

    Trailing for the first time, Clarkdale didn’t panic. The Bulldogs, who had at least one hit in every inning, got the rally in the bottom of the sixth started as Alex Smith reached on a Sumrall error. Lindsey Beard then was hit-by-a-pitch and Kennedy Castleberry tied it with a single to center. Lauren Thrash followed with the game-wining RBI on a single to left.

    Clarkdale, which stranded nine runners, left two on in the seventh and lost Castleberry at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch.

    “We came through that last inning, but we should have gotten one more,” Bennett said. “We got a bad break with the ball bouncing right back to the catcher.

    “I was a little worried there that we didn’t get that extra run. The middle of their order had hurt us all day, and they were coming up, so there was some concern.”

    But Smith, who improved to 17-3, worked around a one-out double from Charlotte Lear with a pair of groundballs to end it. Lear and Hutchinson both had two hits to lead Sumrall.

    Clarkdale, which hammered out 12 hits off Shelby Perry, got two hits apiece from Beard, Castleberry, Thrash, Abby Roberts and Shana Elmore. The Bulldogs, which took a 1-0 lead in the first when Roberts’ two-out single plated Beard, tacked on three runs in the second. Elmore singled and scored on Logan Bozeman’s single. Beard then drove in Bozeman with a single and Castleberry singled to plate Beard. Thrash followed with a single and Roberts walked to load the bases before Sumrall got out of the inning.

    “We keep flipping that order and the bottom comes through,” Bennett said as Elmore, Bozeman and Smith all sparked rallies. “We’ve been changing that lineup up, but they came through for us.

    “We’ve just got to keep scrapping.”