Lady Vikings Fall to Lady Wolverines 7-3 in Eight Innings

By Craig Brown

The Latta High School Lady Vikings lost their first game in lower state playoff action when they went down 7-3 in eight innings of play to the Lady Wolverines of East Clarendon High School on Friday night in Latta.

Are the Wolverines better than the Vikings? In my opinion the answer is no. The Vikings just had one of those games that had an equal amount of bad luck that offset good play. No one can be blamed for the Viking loss although you have to give the Wolverines a lot of credit for a well-played game. Both the Vikings and the Wolverines rosters are lined with young players with continued bright futures for each team.

As is with the Lady Vikings, the Lady Wolverines are a well-coached team under Head Coach Lisa Ard and her staff who are now 18-1 overall in play this season. Coach Ard has been in coaching for 25 years with the last nine at East Clarendon.

Jessica Welch led off for the Wolverines with a base hit to left field and moved to third base with a double to left from Elly Floyd. Gracen Watts got to base on a fielding error that scored Welch and Floyd. Watts was later picked off at first base. Caitlin Timmons added a hit but was left on base, leaving the Wolverines up 2-0.

Madison Owens got the lone hit in the bottom of the first inning but was tagged out trying to steal second base to put the Wolverines back to bat with a 2-0 lead.

The Wolverines left one runner on base in the top of the second inning after making it to base on a hit by a pitch. Macy Hyatt led off the bottom of the second inning with a triple to right center field. Casey Prescott was brought in to run for Hyatt. Kaleigh Caulder added a base hit to right center to score Prescott and pull the Vikings to within one run. Caulder was left on base to end the inning with Latta trailing East Clarendon 2-1.

Elly Floyd led off for the Wolverines in the top of the third with a high hit fly ball to right field that was fielded by Viking fielder Kurstin Hopkins for the out. Gracen Watts beat out an infield grounder to get to first base and was brought home with a triple from Abby Reardon. Roxanne Gray entered to run for Reardon. Caitlin Timmons lined a grounder to Viking short stop Madison Owens who threw Timmons out going to first base. Viking first baseman Genesis Anderson threw out Gray going home for the double play to put the Vikings back to bat now trailing 3-1. The Vikings could not get anything going in the bottom of the third going three up and out.

Olivia Singletary led off for the Wolverines in the top of the fourth, getting to base on a fielding error. Viking second baseman Camryn Sawyer fielded a grounder and tagged second base to get Singletary out and then threw out the runner going to first base for a double play. Kaleigh Caulder fielded a fly ball in left field for out number three sending the Vikings back to bat. The Viking batters again went three up and out to end the fourth inning trailing 3-1.

The Wolverines left two runners on base with one lone hit coming from Mikayla Anderson but did no additional damage. The Vikings ended the fifth inning going three up and out, leaving the Wolverines still up 3-1.

The Wolverines got one runner to base on a walk in the top of the sixth with no scoring damage. The Vikings also got one runner to base on a walk in the sixth inning but the runner was picked off trying to get back to the bag. The inning closed with the Wolverines holding the 3-1 lead.

Some great play from the Viking infielders got the Vikings back to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Vikings loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh with hits from Madison Owens, Macy Hyatt, and Kaleigh Caulder. Dori Webster scored Owens with a fielder’s choice hit with Webster called out at first base. Genesis Anderson tied the game with a sacrifice bunt to score Hyatt, sending Caulder, who is reported to be the team’s fastest player, to third base. Sadly, Caulder could find no way home but the game was now going into extra innings tied at 3-3.

The Wolverines had their best at bat of the game in the top of the eighth and the Viking fielders seemed to be trying too hard and the end results were four runs scored by the Wolverines for a 7-3 lead. Latta fans were hoping that Wolverine pitcher Brooklyn Fort might be spent on the mound but the big right hander had just enough left to hold the Vikings to two hits with no runs scored to secure the 7-3 Wolverine win.

On the mound for the Vikings, Dori Webster posted four strikeouts with two walked batters and allowed nine hits and seven runs scored for the loss. For the Wolverines, Brooklyn Fort posted five strikeouts with one walked batter and allowed eight hits and three runs scored for the win.

At bat for the Vikings, Madison Owens was 3-for-4; Macy Hyatt was 2-for-4 with a triple; Kaleigh Caulder was 2-for-3 with one RBI; Camryn Sawyer was 1-for-4; Dori Webster got one RBI on a fielder’s choice; Genesis Anderson got one RBI on a sacrifice bunt; and Kurstin Hopkins got to base on a walk.

At bat for the Wolverines, Mikayla Anderson was 2-for-3 with two RBI; Caitlin Timmons was 2-for-4 with one RBI; Elly Floyd was 1-for-3 with a double, also getting to base on an error; Gracen Watts was 1-for-4, also getting to base twice on errors with two RBI; Abby Reardon was 1-for-4 with a triple and one RBI; Brooklyn Fort was 1-for-4; Jessica Welch was 1-for-5; Katerria Rose got one RBI on an error; and Olivia Singletary got to base on an error.

“The game plan was solid but we just had an off day,” Viking Head Coach Stephanie Johnson said. “I consider this team to be a great group of young ladies and ball players.”

Coach Johnson also credited East Clarendon with having a great team that is well coached.

The Vikings were scheduled to host the Lady Gators of Lake View at 5:30 p.m. on Monday in an elimination game, while East Clarendon prepared to host Hannah-Pamplico in the Class A lower state winners’ bracket.

Photos by Craig Brown. Click the images below to view at full size!