Lady Jags overtake Berry for tournament win, 7-5

The Northridge Lady Jags softball team played a late game on Friday night at the Holy Spirit tournament and came from behind to claim victory over the Berry Lady Wildcats by a score of 7-5. Northridge was trialing 5-2 after two innings, but held Berry off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game and added five more runs to get the 7-5 win.

The Lady Jags came up blank in first inning, with the only bright spot being a double from Anna Grace Reed. The Lady Wildcats put three runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning, for the 3-0 lead over the Lady Jags.

Northridge put two runs on the board in the top of the second inning. Mary Hayes Henderson singled to lead off the inning. Sarah Copeland advanced Ava Aaron (courtesy runner for Henderson) to second on a hard grounder to third. A sacrifice from Millie Tucker advanced Arron to third and Copeland to second. A strikeout brought Kenzlee Ringo to the plate, who singled, scoring Aaron from third and advancing Copeland to third. Madelyn Abston followed with a a hit that scored Copeland and advanced Ringo to second. A strikeout ended the at-bat for Northridge, but they had closed the Berry lead to 3-2.

The Lady Wildcats tacked another two runs onto their lead in the bottom of the second, making the score 5-2 after two complete innings.

It didn’t look promising when Northridge started the top of the third with two outs. However, they rallied to score two runs. With two out, Mary Hayes Henderson drew a walk. Copeland followed with a double to left field, advancing Berkley Davis (courtesy runner for Henderson) to third. Tucker walked to load the bases. Caroline Pate’s contact to short resulted in Pate advancing to second. Davis and Copeland scored on the play and Tucker moved to third. The next batter grounded out, but the Lady Jags were within one run at 5-4.

Berry landed one runner on base in the bottom of the third, but the Lady Jags ended the inning without the Lady Wildcats scoring.

In a deja vu moment, the Lady Jags started off the top of the fourth with two outs. Reed kicked off what would become a three run rally with a single to center. Anna Cate Henderson followed with an inside-the-park homerun to right, scoring Reed and giving Northridge its first lead of the game at 6-5. Mary Hayes followed with a double to left. Copeland popped up on the next at-bat and Davis (running again for Mary Hayes) scored on an error by the second baseman. The next batter grounded out, but the Lady Jags had secured a 7-5 lead.

After a leadoff out, Berry had runners at second and third. But, Abston and Reed pulled off a double play to end the threat and wrap up a 7-5 time-limit victory for the Lady Jags. (Tournament games are governed by a time limit, so only four innings were completed.)

Reed, Mary Hayes Henderson and Copeland collected two hits each for Northridge. Abston, Anna Cate Henderson, Pate and Ringo had one hit apiece. Copeland and Davis scored two runs each, with Aaron, Reed and Anna Cate Henderson crossing the plate once.

Mary Hayes Henderson completed four innings in the circle, striking out three and issuing two walks, while surrendering five runs on seven hits.