WOODVILLE — Adams County Christian School’s fast-pitch softball team escaped what could have been yet another shaky late-inning pitching performance in Game 1 of its doubleheader against Wilkinson County Christian Academy Thursday afternoon.
ACCS went into the bottom of the fourth inning with a 10-7 lead. That’s when it almost got away from them — again.
WCCA scored a run to make it a 10-8 game. Then with two outs, Brooke Runnels walked three straight batters to load the bases and was behind in the count 3-0 on the next batter. But the Lady Rebels caught a huge break when what would have been ball four ended up being a pop out to right field as they won by that margin in the four-inning game.
“In the first game we were in position to win the game. Had every chance to win the game,” WCCA head coach Brandi McDaniel said. “Their pitcher struggled. We had the bases loaded with two outs. We had a 3-0 count. A 3-0 count, you don’t swing. We missed the signs. We don’t know how to play. We’re just learning.”
ACCS ended up walking 13 batters in the game and committed a season-high four errors.
“First game we came out flat pitching,” Lady Rebels head coach Forrest Foster said. “Had a difficult time throwing strikes the whole ball game. Something we’ve not done all year is commit (that many) errors. It was real difficult to overcome”
The Lady Rebels rallied from a 6-2 deficit by scoring six runs in the top of the third inning to take an 8-6 lead. After the Lady Rams scored once in the bottom of the third, ACCS scored two key runs to go ahead 10-7.
“A scrappy team like WCCA, they’re real young, but they’ll scrap with you,” Foster said. “Their pitcher did a good job.”
Runnels pitched the final two innings to pick up the win. Hannah Lanehart was charged with the loss despite walking just two batters and striking out four in four innings.
Lauren Dejean went 2-for-2 and Mary Katherine Doucet had a double for WCCA.
The second game wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the Lady Rebels rolled to a 15-0 win over the Lady Rams in just three innings. However, it was an exciting game for eighth-grader Madison Newman.
In her first-ever varsity game, all Newman did was throw a perfect game and struck out five batters.
“In the second game, our girls just decided to play ball. The tone was set in the first inning when we had three hits and scored two runs,” Foster said. “What really made the difference was Madison Newman.”
She threw two strikes on fastballs on the very first batter she faced and then came back with a changeup for the strikeout.
“That was one of the most beautiful changeups I have ever seen,” Foster said. “I jumped off my bucket.”
The Lady Rebels put the game away by scoring eight runs on seven hits and two walks in the top of the second inning. They added six more runs in the top of the third.
Newman struck out one batter in the bottom of the second and then proceeded to strike out the side in the bottom of the third.
“The second game, ACCS just hit the ball extremely well. My pitcher would throw a strike and they were hitting the holes,” McDaniel said. “We didn’t have any errors through the second inning and they were up 10-0. They just hit the ball.”
Did they ever. As a team, the Lady Rebels finished with 16 hits. Tory Laird went 3-for-3 with a double, Abby Givens had a triple, Kaitlan Pace was 2-for-2, and Kylie Powell was 2-for-3 with a double.
McDaniel added that the tough loss in Game 1 had no effect on how the team played in Game 2.
“They seemed ready to play. I was proud of them because people aren’t expecting anything from us,” she said. “They took us out of the ball game quick.”
ACCS (4-3) plays at Silliman Institute next Tuesday with the junior varsity game at 6 p.m. and the varsity game at 7:15 p.m. WCCA (1-3) doesn’t play again until Saturday, Aug. 13 at the Amite School Center Tournament in Liberty.