Lady Bruins win, go 2-0 in region

Published 11:26 pm Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Northwest Whitfield’s lineup has been both potent and punchless this season, but in a Region 7-4A matchup at Dalton on Tuesday, the Lady Bruins found themselves somewhere in between.

And being efficient was just right.

The bottom and top of the Northwest lineup came through with sufficient run support for Emily Headrick, who pitched a three-hit shutout and worked through a few trouble spots to post a 2-0 victory.

“I thought Emily did an excellent job,” Northwest coach Tammy Lambert said. “Even when our defense made an error, she came through and shut the inning out for us. That just comes from within — that’s heart right there.”

Headrick, who struck out three and walked three, didn’t allow a hit after the second inning. The junior wasn’t helped by four Northwest errors, but always recovered.

Meanwhile, Dalton stranded nine runners, including seven in scoring position. That, of course, was frustrating for Dalton coach Bobby Brotherton, who saw his Lady Catamounts (5-4) fall to 0-2 in Region 7-4A play.

“We put some baserunners in situations where we thought we could score some runs and we didn’t get it done,” he said. “We didn’t get the bunts down, we didn’t get the base hits when we needed them, we didn’t get the leadoff hitters on sometimes when we needed it.”

Northwest (7-3, 2-0 in 7-4A) collected just one more hit than Dalton, but took better advantage of its scoring chances.

The Lady Bruins took a 1-0 lead in the third when Bethany McArthur — the No. 9 hitter — drew a leadoff walk, went to second as Taylor Horseman reached on an error, then scored on Stephanie Sewell’s one-out single to right field.

In the seventh, Andi Gordon reached on an error, moved to second when McArthur walked, went to third as Horseman reached on a fielder’s choice, then scored on Molly Edmond’s one-out single.

“We’ve had a problem all season putting hits together, but it seemed like we did that today,” Lambert said. “… My lineup is strong from top to bottom, so it doesn’t matter where I put them. We got big hits today when we needed it.”

Dalton’s Lacie Coquerille, who pitched all seven innings, struck out four and walked five while taking the loss. She issued leadoff walks from the second through fourth innings, but escaped in the second and fourth thanks to double plays and also faced the minimum in the fifth.

For Northwest, Horseman also singled while Pakie Planzer doubled, Ashley Flood walked twice and Edmond added a sacrifice bunt.

Coquerille had a hit and a walk, while Eden Morris and Katie Henderson each added a single.

n Southeast 2, Rome 1: Jordan Baldridge had three extra-base hits and scored twice and Chelsea Krafft pitched a one-hitter for the Lady Raiders (7-3, 1-1).

Baldridge doubled twice — she scored on a throwing error after doing so in the fifth — and tripled in the seventh, later scoring on an infield error. Heather Mason and Tianna Acosta each added a single for the Lady Raiders.

Krafft struck out eight and walked two, with her lone hit surrendered to opposing pitcher Brittany Adams.n

Varsity volleyball

Northwest Whitfield routed visiting Rome 25-5, 25-2 as Lauren Gribble was 25-of-27 on serves with nine aces.

Megan Smyth had six kills for the Lady Bruins (2-5, 1-2 Area 7-4A).

In the junior varsity match, Northwest posted a 25-22, 20-25, 25-15 victory.

Dalton defeated Ridgeland 25-16, 23-25, 25-21 to improve to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in 7-4A as Lisa Donahue returned to coach a week after delivering a baby boy.

Megan Waycaster had four aces and 12 assists, while Liz Coffey added 11 digs and two kills, Julia Hatch had four aces and six kills and Emily Broadrick finished with five kills.

Middle School Softball

North Whitfield 7, Valley Point 4: McKinley Poteet pitched a three-hitter and Bwembya Chibuye collected three hits and drove in three runs for the Lady Pioneers (2-0) in a game played at Pleasant Grove Park.

Three of Valley Point’s four runs were unearned.

Westside 6, Dalton 2: Allison Manis threw a one-hitter and struck out nine for the Lady Rockets (2-0).

Westside collected seven singles to back Manis. Megan Behr had the Lady Cougars’ only hit, a single in the fourth inning, and both of Dalton’s runs were unearned.

Eastbrook 17, New Hope 2: Briana Sosebee hit two home runs, while Chelsey Rivers had four hits and four RBIs as the Lady Rockets (2-0) rolled.

Sosebee had seven strikeouts while pitching for the win.

Kiersten Smith, Felesha Welch and Kayla Lloyd each added two hits for Eastbrook.