Seven local teams and two teams from vastly different geographical locations–Southwest Guilford from High Point and Victor High School from upstate New York–came to the Jack Rasberry Softball complex on the campus of Hoggard High School for a softball tournament and the championship trophy went home with the Laney Lady Buccaneers.
Junior Charlene Thompson lined a single off the glove of Trask third baseman Breanna Posey and into left field to score pinch-runner Carleigh Wildeboer with the winning run with one out in bottom of the eighth inning to give Laney a 5-4 win over Trask and the championship trophy of the 19th Annual John T. Hoggard Invitational Softball Tournament.
Once the game went into extra innings international rules took effect and a runner–the last out in the seventh inning–was placed on second and the Lady Buccaneers (11-3) took advantage in the bottom of the eighth frame after the Lady Titans (11-3) had the same opportunity in the top of the inning but was unable to capitalize.
“Well it’s always nice when you get your hide tanned by a team the first time,” Laney Coach Jim Fisk said. “We came out and spotted them three runs and came back. We told the girls when you spot a team three runs and keep battling back, that’s a great job.”
The Lady Titans took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on a three-run double by Amanda Ludlum that plated Carlie Savage, Taylor Rivenbergh, and A. J. Johnson. Laney came right back to get one in the bottom of the frame on a RBI single by senior Becca Montgomery that scored Thompson, who led off the inning with a walk.
The Lady Buccaneers tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third on a double by Hannah Key, two walks, and error and a wild pitch.
The score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the sixth when Laney pushed across the lead run on a one-out double by freshman Savannah Watkins and a RBI single by Shelby Cook but Trask knotted things up in the top of the seventh on Johnson’s RBI single that scored Kristina Collier, who had reached base on an infield single.
Laney failed to score in the bottom of the seventh, setting up the scenario where the last out of the previous (7th) inning goes to second base with no outs. Trask had the first opportunity in the top of the eighth but a line-drive double play ended their threat.
Griffin Cox was Laney’s last out in the seventh but Fisk elected to put pinch-runner Wideboer at second. Watkins singled to put runners on the corners but Wildeboer was out at the plate on a bang-bang play at the plate on a fielders’ choice grounder off the bat of Cook.
Key walked to load the bases and Thompson drove a line shot to left for the game-winner.
“I was just, like, trying to put the ball in play,” Thompson said. “I just kind of closed my eyes and swung the bat, I don’t know. It feels really good. This is actually the first time we’ve completely come together as a team and pushed each other instead of going separately. As for the win over Ashley, it was really great. It makes us really feel that if we push each other we can do better.”
Trask Coach Corrina Reece said her team had their chance but she was still very proud of their effort all day.
“I told them I was proud of them,” Reece said. “We hadn’t really played the international rules before so that was new to them. We had our chance at first and of course we didn’t advance our runner. Overall I’m very happy and very pleased, we put the ball in play and we weren’t intimidated by the bigger schools. I just told them they played hard and that’s all I can ask of them, to play hard.
“We got a two-run home run from Taylor (Rivenbergh) today and they played hard until the end. Our conference is not that strong and coming out here and playing these larger schools, these tougher schools, can only help us down the road.”
Laney, which had a bye in the first round because Southwest Guilford was allowed just two games, got to the finals by handing Mid-Eastern Conference rival Ashley a 9-5 loss just 13 days after the Screaming Eagles beat Laney 7-2.
“We hit the ball today and that’s the main thing,” Fisk said. “We hit the ball with people in scoring position. I thought Hannah did an excellent job on the mound, no question about that. She kept them off-balance. It was Ashley so you never take anything for granted.”
One highlight in the game came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Montgomery, a senior, hit her first career home run.
“Beating Ashley felt so good, they are our biggest rivals,” Montgomery said. “It was amazing, the best feeling in the world. And the home run really felt good. I’m glad I finally got one before I’m done. It was a curve ball and I pretty much knew it was gone when I hit it.”
North Brunswick had a very good tournament and might have been in the finals had they played three games but, like Southwest Guilford, they were limited to two games due to scheduling conflicts.
Pender filled in and played a first-round game against Hoggard, losing 12-4 to the Lady Vikings, the Lady Patriots first loss of the year. That put North Brunswick in the consolation bracket and they took care of business in a big way, beating New Hanover 12-1 and Southwest Guilford 11-0.
“I’m definitely happy, I feel we’re starting to get our groove the way we’ve been talking about,” said North Brunswick Coach Brittany Lehrschall, whose team improved to 9-4 and is tied for first place in the East Central 2A Conference with Dixon. “I mean, we’re heading toward the end of the season and we’ve talked about peaking heading into the playoffs. We don’t want to peak too soon.
“The girls work hard and this is probably one of the best all-around groups I’ve had. I’m happy, no complaints. And we got no-hitter. When you don’t pay attention to it, that’s when it happens. That was awesome. Kasey is a competitor. When she goes out there she always gets the job done. She is one of the players you want with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 10th because she can handle it, she has that fire in her, she wants to win and she’ll do anything to get it done.”
Klutz didn’t even realize she had a no-hitter after the game, and she was pleased and surprised it came against a team that had earlier beaten Victor 12-11.
“They scored 12 runs, I don’t know,” Klutz said. “I just threw the way I thought I should throw. Walks don’t bother me, coach came out after I walked two and told me to get myself together. It also feels good to be picked for the all-tournament team. I got one of these last year, too.”
All-Tournament Team
The tournament – with the help of the coaches – selected 17 girls to the All-Tournament team as follows:
Ashley: Jordan Floyd, Schae Dickson
Hoggard: Aleah Thompson, Melissa Marks.
Laney: Kirstie Langley, Becca Montgomery, MVP Charlene Thompson.
New Hanover: Alex Simmons.
North Brunswick: Kasey Klutz, Stacy Fodrie.
Pender: Amani Newkirk.
Southwest Guilford: Brianna Grier, Erin Thompson.
Trask: Taylor Rivenbark, A. J. Johnson.
Victor: Kristen Simmons, Liz Caggiano.
Championship Game:
Trask 300 001 00-4-10-2
Laney 102 001 01=5- 9-1
WP: Shelby Cook; LP: A.J. Johnson; 2B: Savannah Watkins (L), Taylor Rivenbergh (T), Amanda Ludlum (T).
Leading Hitters: (L) – Charlene Thompson 1-for-2, 2 R/S, GWRBI, 2W, SB; Savannah Watkins 2-for-4, R/S, 2B. (T) – Carlie Savage 2-for-4, R/S; A. J. Johnson 2-for-4, R/S, RBI; Amanda Ludlum 2-or-3, 2B, 3 RBIS, W.
Tournament Scores:
Hoggard 12, Pender 4 Trask 14, New Hanover 0
Ashley 4, Victor 0 North Brunswick 16, New Hanover 1
Trask 10, Hoggard 0 Laney 9, Ashley 5
Southwest Guilford 12, Victor 11 North Brunswick 11, Southwest Guilford 0
Victor 11, New Hanover 0 Hoggard 3, Ashley 1
Laney 5, Trask 4 (8 innings)
