By Ashley Hargrove
Tony Vining knows his young team is bound to make a few errors every now and then.
So when the Catholic Lady Falcons of Huntsville scored six runs in the second inning Saturday afternoon in the Athens Bible School Invitational tournament, Vining didn’t worry. When the inning ended, the Athens Bible softball coach, walked out of the dugout and challenged his team.
“Let’s get the bats going and score 10 runs this inning,” Vining told them.
Though the Lady Trojans didn’t get 10, they did score five runs to pull within one of the Lady Falcons.
Courtney Etheredge got the rally going with a leadoff single to start the bottom of the inning. Stefanie McClure followed with a single. CeCi Ivey drew a walk to load the bases and a fielder’s choice by Abby Malone scored Etheredge. Chelsea Burgess’ single scored McClure and Ivey, pulling Athens Bible within three. A triple by Haley Chittam scored Burgess and a sacrifice fly by Allie McCurry scored Chittam.
“We didn’t play very well,” Vining said. “Catholic hit the ball real well. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. Our kids kept plugging along and decided they wanted to play at the end. They really try to respond, but realistically, it’s hard to get that with us being so young, but they do well and give us everything they’ve got.”
Athens Bible held Catholic scoreless in the third and fourth innings before taking the lead in the bottom half of the fourth.
Burgess started the last inning rally, reaching on an error and stealing second and third. Haley Chittam and McCurry both reached base on a walk. Brooke Chittam drew a walk to score Burgess, tying the game at seven. A fielder’s choice by Etheredge scored Haley Chittam to give the Lady Trojans the 8-7 win.
Andrea George went the distance for Athens Bible, hurling four innings, striking out one and allowing five hits.
In the championship game, the Lady Trojans defeated Skyline 16-6.
Burgess was 2-for-4 with a triple and RBI. Haley Chittam was 3-for-4 with three singles and an RBI. McCurry was 3-for-4 with a double, single and RBI. Brooke Chittam was 3-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs. Etheredge was 2-for-3 with a single and double; Natalie Anderson was 1-for-3 with an RBI; Ceci Ivey was 1-for-3 with a double and RBI; Stefanie McClure was 2-for-3 with a triple and RBI, while Abby Malone finished 1-for-3.
George picked up the win, pitching 4 1/2 innings, striking out three, while allowing five hits.
Athens Bible is in action again Thursday at Valley Head.
