Eastside’s Bulldogs tame Tigers
Eastside’s boys and girls softball teams tamed Irving College’s Tigers on Friday, scoring a pair of shutout victories.
The Lady Bulldogs used a seven-run second inning to help take a 16-0 victory over the host Lady Tigers, while the Eastside boys erupted in the fifth inning to blow the game open on their way to a 12-0 win.
In girls’ action, Kayla Ballew reached base all four times she came to the plate, scoring three runs. Brandi Norward scored three times for the Lady Bulldogs, and Sara Wilcher, who went 4-for-4, scored a pair of runs.
Bethany King came home with a pair of runs for Eastside, with Nikia Mabe and D.D. Lawson scoring two each as well. Ashley Moore had three hits and scored a run, and Talekia King scored to round out the lopsided victory.
Eastside did most of its damage in the second inning, plating seven runs on seven hits, including a two-run double from King, and a two-run triple by Mabe.
Irving College threatened, loading the bases in the third and getting several hits throughout the game, but wasn’t able to push any runners across.
In boys action, the Tigers and Bulldogs looked to be locked in a pitchers’ duel early.
Eastside scored two in the first on RBIs from Brooks Palmer and Dale Murphy, but didn’t cross the plate again until the fourth, when Palmer doubled and scored on a Murphy single to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
The Bulldogs’ lead expanded to 9-0 in the fifth, when — with two outs — they connected for seven straight hits, with Andrew King, Dustin Roberts, Trey Clark, Taylor Hale, Palmer and Murphy driving home runs.
Ethan Womack and J.R. Drake scored in the sixth to pad Eastside’s lead, and Justin Cannon singled and came home on a Murphy sac fly to provide the final margin of victory.