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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
FOUR
From page 4B
both shutouts and had five
total hits of her own at the
plate. She had six strikeouts
in Game 1 while allowing
just two hits and no walks.
In the second game, which
went the full seven innings,
Gilliam had five strikeouts,
gave up seven hits and one
walk while receiving fine
defensive help.
Westfield’s offense didn’t
develop until the fifth inning
of the opener. The Hornets
had three hits through the
first four innings, includ
ing a hustling double by
Gilliam. The pitcher had a
perfect game going through
that same stretch, but a one
out single broke it up in the
top of the fifth.
Gilliam’s next turn at bat
came leading off the home
fifth, and she drilled her
second double to the fence.
This started a four-run out
burst as the Hornet bats put
the ball in play and made
numerous things happen,
like three errors by North
Cobb Christian.
“Eventually, you are
going to get a key hit,” said
Culverhouse. “Once we got
that one key it, it was like
the next one wanted one and
the next one wanted one,
and it kept on.”
The coach still sense some
frustration with a popped
up bunt attempt on the first
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Journal/Matthew Brown
Darryl Ann Thompson looks to Head Coach Rodney Culverhouse for a sign.
REGION
From page 4B
Warner Robins High in the
finalregionstandings, so both
the Bears and Demonettes
went to Lowndes County on
Saturday with Class AAAAA
state south sectional bids
already sewn up.
Things didn’t start up well
for Houston County though
with a loss right off the bat
to Tift County High. For
the Bears, that meant they
needed two wins in a row to
at least get a favorable seed
ing for the state sectionals
and four wins in a row to
win the 1-AAAAA champi
onship.
Coach Angela Crawford’s
club got those four wins,
the last two coming against
Warner Robins, which had
swept the regular-season
home at-home series with
the Bears.
Tift County beat Houston
4-2 with two runs in the
seventh inning. The encour
aging sign for the Bears was
that leadoff hitter Danielle
Burkett went 3-for-4 at the
plate. That hot hitting would
carry on the rest of the day
as Burkett had 12 hits in 19
at-bats.
Crawford said Brianna
Hancock had a “wonderful”
pitching outing against Tift,
which stranded several run
ners throughout the game
before taking the lead for
good in the seventh. The
coach went with Hancock
again in the circle for the
first of four straight elimina
tion contests, which pitted
the Bears against one of the
tournament hosts, Lowndes
High.
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Journal/Matthew Brown
Mason Moreland slides into the bag during state tournament action Saturday in Dublin.
"Eventually, you are going to get a key
Nt.once we got that one key it, It was
like the next one wanted one and the
next one wanted one, and it kept on.”
- Westfield Head Softball Coach Rodney Culverhouse
pitch after the double, but
Shae Horsting, the desig
nated player in the No. 9
spot, put the ball in the right
spot, and the North Cobb
Hancock struck out five
batters in five innings, which
is as long as the game lasted
as Houston won big over
the Vikettes 11-1. Kourtny
Thomas ended the game
with a two-run home run in
the fifth inning.
Kaitlyn Carriker was
the leading hitter overall
with three safties. Danielle
Burkett had two more hits,
as did sister Ashlee Burkett,
Sarah Ling and Taylor
Fountain.
Carriker, who once already
in her high school career
was the winning pitcher for
an elimination game in the
postseason, got the start for
Houston’s rematch with Tift.
Crawford said her off-speed
stuff kept the Devil batters
off balance, and the offense
gave her enough support for
a 3-2 win.
Danielle Burkett, with
three more hits in the game,
drove in the key run with
a sacrifice fly in the fourth
inning. That put the Bears
ahead 3-0.
Once one game ended,
Houston had another one
waiting for it right away.
The tournament came down
to the Bears and Warner
Robins. Demonette pitcher
Kristen Graham was throw
ing a 2-0 shutout going into
the seventh inning. That’s
when Houston was finally
able to string some hits
together and take the lead
3-2.
Danielle Burkett was first
up and got on base with a sin
gle. She scored as Carriker
singled and Ashlee Burkett
singled. Thomas bunted the
runners on base over, which
enabled Ling to bring both
home with a hit.
infield booted it for a first
and-third situation.
Haley Way ran at third
and Caroline Pfohl at first,
and the pair pulled off the
“Kristen Graham is a great
pitcher,” said Crawford.
“We struggled against her
all year. But we were able
to put stuff together, and
it carried over to the last
game.”
That same combination of
players started the decided
game with the Demonettes,
and the result was the same.
Houston this time led 3-0
and held on to win another
3-2 final.
Danielle Burkett was 3-
for-4 to end her fine offen
sive day.
“She’s definitely the main
reason we were so success
ful,” said Crawford. “She’s
, it ' f?) '
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SPORTS
double steal to end the
scoreless deadlock. With two
outs, Hanna Jones hit a ball
dropped in the outfield (2-
0) and Christine Campbell
reached on a second infield
error (3-0). Jamie Marshall’s
double completed the rally
at 4-0.
With three hits and two
more errors, Westfield scored
four more times in the bot
tom of the sixth. That ended
the game on the mercy rule.
The inning started with an
error, which Gilliam followed
with her third straight dou
ble to the right-center gap.
With the bases loaded and
one out, Mason Moreland
flared her second hit of the
game in the right spot for
an RBI and Jones singled up
the middle (6-0).
Marshall, after the sec
ond NCC error plated a run,
drove in the eight run on a
fly-out.
Game 2 began much more
to Culverhouse’s liking.
Westfield played as the visi
tors on the scoreboard and
lit that board up for five
runs in the top of the first.
“We just picked up where
we left off” he said. “When
you get five in the first
inning, your confidence level
is pretty high.”
Moreland reached on an
infield single, stole two bases
and scored on yet another
North Cobb error. Campbell
doubled for an RBI, Marshall
singled for an RBI, and
after Audrey Clearman’s hit
Jennifer Wrye batted home
two.
Marshall scored in the sec
ond (6-0) after she doubled
to left and Clearman tripled.
Horsting hit an RBI dou
a good baserunner. If she
gets on, and the 2-5 hitters
execute with the bunt and
everything, we are in good
shape.”
The south sectionals for
AAAAA begin Friday and
continue through Saturday
at Lovejoy Park in Hampton.
Houston County drew
Johnson High of Savannah
for its first game while
Warner Robins will meet
Groves High of Garden City
on Friday.
“It seems like we’re work
ing together at the right
time,” said Crawford. “This
is a big weekend coming up
with some tough competi
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ble in the third, an inning
Gilliam led off with a single.
The eighth run didn’t come
until the seventh on three
straight hits by Clearman,
Wrye and Gilliam.
In the last three innings,
Pfohl had the chance to play
some defense in right field
while Jenny Grier spelled
Sydney Smith in left field.
In the fifth inning, Pfohl,
just as starter Darryl Ann
Thompson did in the first
game, denied a North Cobb
batter of a safety by getting
a ball hit her way to first
base in time.
Grier meanwhile had a
Journal/Matthew Brown
Jones catches a ball at shortstop.
tion from Regions 2-4.”
A win against Johnson
could set up a second round
game for the Bears with
Luella High. It was Luella
that beat Houston County in
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running catch in the fifth
and made a relay throw to
first in time for an out in the
seventh.
“It’s sad that they’re subs
because all of these girls
are good ball players,” said
Culverhouse. “We’re not
carrying people just to have
a uniform on. They are out
there for a reason.”
Joining Westfield will be
George Walton, a team that
lost only to Westfield all sea
son, and First Presbyterian,
a team the Hornets could
not beat in 2007 after knock
ing off the Vikings two times
in last year’s finals.
last year’s south sectionals
in Dublin. After that loss,
the Bears won three in a
row the following day to
qualify for the final eight in
Columbus.
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