Winning weekend for Troup softball team
Published 12:00 am Monday, August 22, 2016
LAGRANGE – It was a busy and productive weekend for the Troup Lady Tigers.
Competing in the Callaway Classic at Shuford Fields, Troup went 4-1, and that included three straight wins without a loss on Saturday.
The Lady Tigers are red-hot, having won seven of eight games overall to improve to 7-3.
The Callaway and LaGrange softball teams also played in the Callaway Classic, and they each played four games.
LaGrange went 2-2, and Lauren Kuerzi hit two home runs and drove in six runs in a 14-4 win over Hardaway.
Callaway, the host team, had a 2-2 record.
On Friday, Troup beat Hardaway 6-5 and lost to Rockmart 9-0.
In Saturday’s games, Troup beat Landmark Christian 5-4, Brookstone 10-6, and Shaw 16-1, and sophomore shortstop Kayla Lane had a home run against Brookstone.
Against Shaw, Troup scored 15 runs in the second inning of a game limited to three innings because of the run rule.
Twenty Troup hitters came to the plate in the second inning, and there were six hits, seven walks, and four Lady Tigers were hit by a pitch.
Andrea Nix, Abby Taylor, Kinley Stanford, Chandler Pritchett and Madison McCartney each had RBI hits in the inning.
McCartney, Skye Loftin, Lane, Olivia McInvale and Chloe Allen each had RBIs after walking with the bases loaded, and Camarii Cofield and Pritchett were hit by pitches to drive in runs.
Lauren Brooks pitched three innings to get the win.
In the 10-6 win over Brookstone, Lane did a lot of damage with a double and a home run.
McCartney and Maddie Weathers each had two hits, Nix and Loftin had doubles, and Stanford and Cierra Gilbert had hits.
Loftin was Troup’s pitcher.
Against Landmark Christian, Loftin had a walk-off single in the seventh inning to lift Troup to the dramatic win.
Troup trailed by a run heading into the seventh inning, and it scored twice to win it.
Taylor led off with a single, Weathers walked, and McCartney reached on an error to set the stage for Loftin.
Loftin had a big day with three hits, including the game-winner, Taylor and Stanford each had two hits, and Weathers had a triple.
Taylor pitched for Troup against Landmark Christian.
In Friday’s 6-5 win over Hardaway, it was Weathers who came through with the game-winning, walk-off single for Troup.
Weathers and Lane each had two hits, Taylor had a hit and was on base three times with two runs scored, and McCartney and Gilbert both had hits.
Taylor was Troup’s pitcher.
Against Rockmart, Troup was limited to three hits, including a double by Loftin.
LAGRANGE: The Lady Grangers lost to Rockmart 13-0 in their opening game on Friday, and they followed that up with a 14-4 win over Hardaway.
On Saturday, LaGrange beat North Springs 8-7 and lost to Landmark Christian 6-3.
In the Landmark Christian game, LaGrange was trailing 2-0 when Mo Strozier came through with a two-out single to tie it in the fourth inning.
LaGrange then took a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning when Zykeria Brewer walked with the bases loaded.
In the bottom of the fifth, though, Landmark Christian took advantage of some defensive miscues by LaGrange to score four runs.
The game ended in the fifth inning because it had reached the 90-minute time limit.
Strozier finished with two hits for LaGrange, and Te’a Winston, Lauren Kuerzi, Katelyn Hill and Brewer each had hits.
Earlier on Saturday, LaGrange outlasted North Springs 8-7.
North Springs scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie it, and LaGrange reclaimed the lead with a run in the top of the seventh.
Hannah Karcher held North Springs scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to finish off a complete-game performance.
Karcher also got it done at the plate with three hits and three RBIs, Kuerzi had a hit and two RBIs, Winston and Strozier each had two hits and two runs scored and Destiny Fitzpatrick and Hill each had a hit.
Katelynn Mobley walked and scored a run.
In Friday’s 14-4 win over Hardaway, Kuerzi had a monster effort.
Kuerzi hit two home runs, including a grand slam, while driving in six runs.
Also getting it done was Mobley, who had two hits and five RBIs.
Shaq Sutton and Hill each had a hit and an RBI, and Sutton also walked twice.
Winston and Kadaysha Griffin each contributed a hit, and Fitzpatrick walked three times and scored three runs.
Karcher started and pitched three innings, and Kuerzi threw the final two innings.
Against Rockmart, LaGrange managed just two hits in the shutout loss.
CALLAWAY: The Lady Cavaliers got their lone win in their first game on Friday when they beat Shaw 8-7.
Kourtney Greer had a hit, two walks and three runs scored, Oeisha Jenkins had a double and two runs scored, and Jasmine Dukes had a single with two runs scored.
Lydia Bartlett and Skylar Rice each had a hit, and KeKe Talley had two walks.
Rice was the starting pitcher, and Jenkins got the win in relief.
Also on Friday, Callaway lost to Brookstone 11-6.
Kelly Carlisle and Rice each had a double, Jenkins had a hit with two runs scored, Dukes walked twice and scored two runs, and Makayla Davis walked three times.
Jenkins was the starting pitcher, and Lexi Furgerson, a freshman, pitched the final three innings.
On Saturday, Callaway began the day with an 11-2 loss to North Springs.
Jenkins had a double with a run scored, Talley walked and scored a run, and Dukes and Furgerson each had a hit.
In Callaway’s final game, it lost to Rockmart 8-2.
Carlisle led off the game with a single and scored a run on a Jenkins single.
Jenkins doubled and scored a run in the fourth inning on a base hit by Greer.
OF NOTE: For more photos from Saturday’s games, check out facebook.com/LDNsports
Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports