GPS and Boyd Buchanan played softball at Boyd Buchanan Thursday afternoon and the Bruisers headed home with a 12-9 win, but it wasn’t your typical high school softball game.
The Bruisers finished the day with 11 hits and those dozen runs as they scored at least one run in six of the seven innings played. The Lady Bucs scored at least one run in five of the seven innings and they finished with nine runs, despite only having three hits for the day.
“Our bats finally came alive,” said GPS coach London Cornelius after the Bruisers had improved to 5-1 with their fourth straight win.
“Addi (Smith) had a great day at the plate and Sky (Marshall) came up with a big save. We didn’t have a great game defensively, but were able to shake things off and we responded when we needed to. Our bats made up for those defensive mistakes,” she added.
Boyd Buchanan coach Sarah Warren-Bowles must feel somewhat snake bitten after the Lady Bucs dropped to 1-3 with their third straight loss after a season-opening win over Soddy Daisy.
Senior Kinley Ervin was the starter for the Lady Bucs, but was replaced by Kate Murley after giving up a leadoff double to Jayla Gladden and then walking Calieah Reyes. Murley got Bailey Long on a swinging third strike before Smith smacked a three-run homer over the fence in left to put the Bruisers up 3-0.
“Kinley is one of our seniors, but she just didn’t have it at the start,” the Lady Bucs first-year head coach explained.
“We need for some of our upper classmen to step up. I thought we did a nice job running the bases, but our hardest hit balls were in the seventh inning. We certainly aren’t going to give up, but we just need to change our mentality. I thought that Kinley pitched well when she came back in,” she added.
The Bruisers never trailed, although the Lady Bucs were able to knot the score at 5-5 and then at 8-8.
Smith, who added a solo homer in the fifth, was walked intentionally to lead off the seventh. Adrianna Reyes sacrificed her to second and then scored on Ansley Bratcher’s second RBI-single of the game to put the Bruisers up 9-8. Sylia Hicks then drew a walk with two outs. Ervin had an 0-2 count on Marshall with two outs, but the GPS eighth grader then slugged a three-run homer to center in what turned out to be the winning runs of the game.
“I really didn’t think it was going out, but I knew I just needed to relax with two strikes on me in a situation like that. It all seemed to work out well,” the 14-year-old Marshall said about her first homer of the season.
Marshall had replaced Smith in the sixth and allowed the tying run to score. Allison Johnson got hit by a pitch with one out and was replaced by courtesy runner Kendall Griffith, who had already scored twice in similar situations. Peyton Pryor grounded to first for the second out, but Griffith raced to third and just kept going as her speed allowed her to beat the throw home.
Marshall had new life after helping herself with the three-run homer as she recorded the first two outs on flies to the outfield before Jayde Simms made it 12-9 with a solo homer to left. Ty Maddox, who had driven in three runs earlier, walked to keep the Lady Bucs hopes alive before Kinley Bates flied to center to end the game.
Maddox had a run-scoring single in the first and Cai Cai Butler had a bunt single in the third, but those were the only hits before Simms round-tripper.
Gladden had three hits to lead GPS while Smith and Bratcher had two hits each with Smith driving in four runs and Bratcher two.
Smith was the winning pitcher after allowing two hits in five innings. She also had three strikeouts, two walks and two hit batters.
GPS 311 120 4 – 12 11 4
BOYD BUCHANAN 203 021 1 – 9 3 3
Smith, Marshall (6) and Lawson; Ervin, Murley (1), Ervin (5) and Jordan.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)