Northside falls to Houston County in softball opener
It was a case of missed opportunities for Northside as Houston County edged the Lady Patriots, 3-2 in the first round of the Class AAAAA state softball championships at South Commons Thursday afternoon.
"We made two base running errors early and you just can't do that against a quality team like Houston," said Northside coach Brandon Jenkins after the game. "I liked the way we scrapped and hit the ball but it was a little too much to overcome."
The Lady Patriots had two
runners thrown out at the plate, had runners on second and third with one out in the third and runners at first and third in the fifth but were unable to push a third run across the plate. Northside also had a runner called out for leaving the base too early after trying to steal second.
With the loss Northside will now face Jones County, a 5-2 loser in their first game at 11:00 a.m. today in a must-win situation.
Houston got on the scoreboard first when Alannah Browne walked and pinch runner Jamie Benda scored after two straight sacrifice bunts on an Allison Sievers wild pitch.
The Lady Bears made it 2-0 in the top of the third when Madi Slappy reached on a Northside error and scored on Caitlyn Davis single.
The Lady Patriots came back and tied it 2-2 with runs in the bottom of the third on four straight hits and a sacrifice fly. Mary Horne had the RBI single and Hannah George tied the game with her RBI out.
Houston County went ahead for good when Sarah Smith, the pitcher got an infield scored on Emily Simmons RBI single in the sixth to clinch the win.
Thursday at South Commons
Houston C. 011 001 0--3 9 1
Northside 002 000 0--2 10 4
WP=Sarah Smith. LP-Allison Sievers. Leading Hitters- HC- Caitlyn Davis 2x4, RBI, Smith 2x4; N-Gabi Apiag 3x3, 2B, run, Mary Horne 2x4, RBI, Sievers 2x3.
Records-Northside 26-11, next game vs. Jones County 11 a.m.
This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 11:08 PM with the headline "Northside falls to Houston County in softball opener ."