Busy day on the softball diamond
Published 11:11 pm Monday, August 31, 2020
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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY
Daily News
The LaGrange Lady Grangers had the bats working.
LaGrange played twice in Saturday’s Hope for a Day games at Callaway High, and it scored a combined 23 runs to secure a pair of victories.
Junior catcher Holly Child did a lot of the damage for Troup with three home runs, including a grand slam, and a combined 11 RBIs in the two games.
Troup, meanwhile, earned a dramatic victory over Callaway, pushing a run across in the bottom of the eighth inning to finish the way with a win.
Callaway, the host team, came up short in both of its games.
The event, which has become a fixture on the local softball schedule, raises money for the local H.O.P.E for a Day organization.
Each of the teams wore uniforms with pink in them, and cancer survivors threw out the first pitches during the game.
The event was supposed to be held a few weeks ago, but it had to be postponed because Troup was unable to play because of a Covid-19 issue.
The Hope for a Day games
were rescheduled, and a large crowd turned out to watch the local softball teams get after it.
“I enjoy it, because you see all the young kids who are interested in softball, and they’re all coming and watching,” said LaGrange head coach Gabby Heath. “And we get to honor people who have fought (cancer). It’s really a fun day.”
Here’s a recap of each game:.
GAME ONE
LAGRANGE 8,
CALLAWAY 1
Holly Lynn, LaGrange’s junior catcher, had a monster day with three total home runs, including one during an 8-1 victory over Callaway.
Lynn finished the game with three hits and four RBIs, and she had a solo home run that gave LaGrange a 7-0 lead in the sixth inning.
Kaylee Bryant, making her first start of the season, got the complete-game victory, and she was one out away from throwing a shutout.
Chaple Butler’s two-out RBI single in the seventh inning put Callaway on the board, but Bryant got the next batter to pop out and end the game.
Offensively, leadoff hitter Abby Vanhoose had three hits for LaGrange, Madison Dennis and Camden Smith each had two hits and an RBI, and Malone Aldridge and Mariana Ceja each had a hit.
Bryant was sharp on the mound, limiting Callaway to five hits and the lone run.
“Kaylee had a great day on the mound, especially not throwing all season,” LaGrange head coach Gabby Heath said.
For Callaway, Butler had two hits and an RBI, and Mya Lawton, Mikayla Speer and Tyterria Godwin each had a hit.
Faith Horton and Lawton each pitched for Callaway.
GAME TWO
LAGRANGE 15, TROUP 6
Holly Lynn, after sending one over the fence against Callaway, had two more home runs to lead her team to a 15-6 win over Troup.
LaGrange was trailing by two runs when Lynn came through with a grand slam in the third inning to give her team a 5-3 lead.
Lynn also had a solo home run in the second inning, and Camden Smith had a homer of her own earlier in the inning.
Lynn is the number six hitter in the lineup, and with so many quality hitters ahead of her, she gets plenty of opportunities to drive in runs, and she had seven RBIs against Troup.
“We have her in the six hole for a good reason,” LaGrange coach Gabby Heath said. “The people that are above her are hot, too, so everybody’s on for her.”
Troup was trailing 3-1 when it pushed four runs across in the top of the third to take the lead, and LaGrange answered with six runs in the bottom of the inning to surge back ahead.
LaGrange kept it going with four runs in the fourth inning, and it ended the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Kirsten Williams had three of LaGrange’s 14 hits, Smith, Lynn, Abby Vanhoose and Jacee Marable each had two hits, and Mariana Ceja had one hit.
Dennis had two RBIs, and Smith, Vanhoose, Williams, and Mary James Stogner each had one RBI.
Catherine Smalley had a big game for Troup with two hits and four RBIs, and she had a home run in the fifth inning.
Maggie McDonald had two hits, Shelby Addison had one hit for Troup, and Jennifer Albertson drove in a run.
Smith earned the complete-game win for LaGrange while throwing a five-hitter, and Maggie McDonald, Makayla Giles and Smalley each pitched for Troup.
GAME THREE
TROUP 7, CALLAWAY 6
Troup, after watching a four-run lead disappear in the sixth inning, pushed the winning run across in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat Callaway 7-6.
Troup had to take two weeks off because of a Covid-19 issue, and it returned from the break and lost to Brookstone before playing twice on Saturday.
Ryan Simpson, Troup’s first-year head coach, was happy with what she saw on Saturday, both in the victory, and in the loss to LaGrange.
“With them doing that, scoring six runs (against LaGrange), that’s fantastic. I’m proud of them,” Simpson said. “We had strikeouts, and that was my only complaint, but they did really well today, especially with us only being our second and third games back since we were out. They did really well.”
Troup’s eighth-inning rally began with Ramsey Clark and Haley Kitchens reaching on errors, and Catherine Smalley stepped to the plate with runners on second and third and no outs.
Smalley got a pitch she could handle, and she drove the ball into left field for the game-winning hit.
“It felt good to be able to do that for my team, to get the winning hit,” Smalley said.
The game was tied at 2-2 when Troup surged ahead with four runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Callaway rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth to tie it.
Tyterria Godwin had one of the big hits in the inning, a two-run double, and Chelsey Courson had an RBI single.
Mya Lawton got the rally started with a double.
During Troup’s four-run fourth inning, Casey Sani had a two-run double, and Clark and Maggie McDonald both had RBIs.
Sani, Smalley, Shelby Addison, Hadleigh Livingston and Lexi Parker each had hits for Troup, and leadoff hitter Haley Cotton walked twice and scored two runs.
Smalley was Troup’s starting pitcher, and she threw four innings before giving way to McDonald, who pitched one inning.
Kitchens threw the final two innings and was the winning pitcher.
For Callaway, Lawton had two hits and an RBI, Godwin had a hit and two RBIs, Rhodes and Courson each had a hit and an RBI, and Chaple Butler drove in a run. Lawton and Faith Horton both pitched for Callaway.
OF NOTE: For more photos, check out Facebook.com/LDNSports
