Elkins Realty wins tourney championship
Cumberland Bank threatened in the first inning with LeAnne Smith slapping a lead-off double to left field. Elkins pitcher Elizabeth Kennamer shut Cumberland Bank down without any damage to get out of the inning.
Rickey Elkins Realty would score two runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 lead. Sarah Cooper reached on an error and then stole second. MaCall Cooper connected for an infield hit to drive in Elkins’ first run. After two walks, Shellie Hayes went home on a wild pitch to give Elkins Realty their second run of the game.
Cumberland Bank scored in the top of the second after an error and two walks put a runner in scoring position. Cumberland Bank scored on a wild pitch to narrow the lead 2-1. Elkins scored two runs in the third to take a 4-1 lead.
Leslie Drake led the third off with a double to center for Cumberland Bank. Drake stole third and scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-2. Cumberland added two more runs in the inning and tied the game at 4-4.
Elkins Realty broke the game open in their half of the third, scoring five runs. Shellie Hayes led off with a single and then moved to second on a fielder’s choice. Four walks and two wild pitches scored three runs. Kristen Hutchins and Kennamer singled to add two more runs and give Elkins Realty a 9-4 lead.
Cumberland Bank added one run in the fifth and two runs in the sixth. Elkins Realty scored four runs in the sixth with five base hits to take the tournament championship.
Leading the way for Rickey Elkins Realty was India Ware with three hits followed by Kennamer, Sarah Cooper, MaCall Cooper, Shellie Hayes, Shelley Hurt and Hutchins with two hits each. Brittany Darnbush added one hit. Kennamer gave up seven walks and had four strike outs.
For Cumberland Bank, Beth Solomon and Leslie Drake had two hits each. LeAnne Smith, Laurie Hillis, Whitney Hale, Arrah Matheney and Sheli Youngblood collected one hit each. Smith gave up 11 walks and had two strike outs in the game.
Both teams advanced with wins over regular season champions and number one seeded Womack Printing.
Elkins Realty knocked Womack Printing to the loser bracket with a 12-6 win. Then Cumberland Bank squeezed by Womack 12-10 to make it to the finals.