By Staff
Hartselle's Southern Angels 12 and Under ASA softball team captured the championship of the ASA District tournament at South Park in Falkville with a sweep of the three-team tournament.
The Angels got off on the winning foot by the slimmest of margins.
The Spirit got off to a quick start with a pair of plates in the first inning and three more before the Angels got their bats working in the bottom of the second. The Angels trimmed the Spirit lead from 5-0 to 5-4 in the inning.
The Spirit scored a lone run in the top of the third, but the Angels responded with a pair to tie the game.
Sharp defense helped to hold the Spirit runless in top of the fourth inning, setting the stage for their one-run victory. The decisive run came in for the Angels in the bottom half.
Kayla Orr was the starting pitcher for the Angel, working one and one-third innings before yielding to Michel Fields who completed the game and got the win for Hartselle.
Fields struck out five, while walking two and allowing one hit. Orr fanned three, walked three and allowed one hit.
N. Linderman took the loss for the Morgan County Spirit.
Stolen bases played a key role in the victory for the Angels. Chandler Orr and Anna Hall stole three each and Audrey McClanahan, Kayla Orr and Kristy Pevahouse grabbed two each. Shauna Clemons pirated one.
Courtney Shuemake got the big hit for the Angels with an RBI double. McClanahan connected for an RBI single. K. Orr, Kimmie Minor and C. Orr all singled and Cerra Little got a sacrifice RBI.
For the Spirit, H. Nichols singled and scored twice. Linderman hit a 2-RBI single, while R. McCleskey, S. Templeton and K. Bell all scored in the loss.
The Southern Angels were not intimidated by their next opponents' team name.
After the Intimidators drew first blood in the top of the first inning, the Angels buried them with 13 runs in the bottom half of the inning.
The Angels didn't let up in the second inning. They shutout the Intimidators and then finished the game early with a six-run barrage.
Michel Fields got the pitching win in three innings of work. She struck out one, walked one and allowed only hit.
C. Orr, K. Orr and C. Shuemake all stole five bases in the Angels intimidation of the Intimidators. Anna Hall stole four. Fields and McClanahan grabbed three each, while Katie Kilgore picked up two. K. Minor got one.
McClanahan got the big hit for the Angels with a triple and one base hit that drove in four Southern Angel runs.
K. Orr bashed a pair of doubles and a single that accounted for five RBIs. Fields doubled and singled for two RBIs and Minor was good for an RBI single.
A. Hall ripped two base hits and drove in one run. C. Shuemake collected three plates for the Angels.
Cerra Little singled and scored twice for the Angels.
The Angels had their kinks worked out by the time they faced off with the Morgan County Spirit for a second time.
Once again the Spirit scored first, but the Angels mustered three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take the lead.
They shutout the Spirit squad in the top of the second inning and virtually sealed the game with seven runs in the bottom of the second.
The Spirit got their second and final run in the top of the third inning, but the Southern Angels responded with two more plates.
A shutout in the top of the fourth inning ended the victory.
Fields again was the winning pitcher, working the full four and striking out nine along the way. She walked five, but gave up only one hit.
Linderman got that hit, turning a double. She also scored both Spirit runs.
The Angels continued to use the stolen base as an effective weapon in their offensive arsenal.
Hall pirated four. C. Orr and Shuemake got three each, while K. Orr and S. Clemons picked two each. K. Pevahouse got one.
The Angels took the championship with a low-key victory over the Intimidators.
Starting with one run in the top of the first, the Angels added plate pairs in the second and third inning to amass their winning total.
The Intimidators avoided a shutout with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Michel Fields got her fourth pitching win in six innings of work.
Chandler Orr got the big hit for the Angels with a triple. She added a single and scored two runs. Kayla Orr clipped a base hit RBI. Audrey McClanahan singled and plated a run. Cerra Little and Anna Hall also scored for the Angels.
C. Orr stole three bases in the win. Hall and Little got two each, while K. Orr, Clemons and Fields all finished with one each.