The South Lamar High School fast-pitch softball team won two of three games Friday to advance to the North Central Regional tournament next week in Vestavia Hills.
South Lamar (33-9) beat Berry 17-0 to secure a spot in the double-elimination regional tournament at Liberty Park. SLHS then defeated Parrish 1-0 in eight innings to force a winner-take-all game. Parrish won that game 8-4 to claim the Area 9 title.
As runner-up in Area 9, South Lamar will take on Ragland, the top-ranked team in the state of Alabama in Class 1A, at 3:30 p.m. Friday. South Lamar is the No. 3 team in Class 1A in the latest Alabama Sports Writers Association poll.
“We feel we are as good as any team that is going to be down there,” South Lamar coach Tony Seals said. “It is going to be us, Ragland, Lynn, and Parrish. Four of the top five teams in the state (in Class 1A) are in our region.”
Last year at the regional tournament, South Lamar had two strikes and two outs against Ragland only to have a third strike get past the catcher. The next batter hit a three-run home run to beat South Lamar.
On Friday, Kendra Wilson pitched the first four innings in the win against Berry. Laken Hancock pitched two innings and Hannah Cox pitched the last inning.
In the first game against Parrish, Hannah Cox doubled and scored on a hit by Jessica Wheat in the eighth.
“We were ready to play Parrish before we even played Berry,” Seals said. “We were anxious to play Parrish because there is no love lost there.”
Wilson pitched all eight innings in that victory and a complete game in the second game against Parrish.
“We made a few errors, but they weren’t errors that caused runs,” Seals said. “Parrish just hit the ball well right there at the end.
“(Wilson) pitched well (in the first game against Parrish). They had a few hits here and there, but they didn’t hit the ball a whole lot. We played defense well and so did Parrish. We came up with a couple of key hits when we needed them.”
Seals isn’t fazed by the fact his team will have to play the No. 1 team in the state in the regional tournament. With a deep and experienced pitching staff, he likes his team’s chances.
“We know we can do it,” Seals said.
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