Belles take second in state tournament
Debs proudly accept their second place trophy. (Bruce Branum | The Standard)
CECIL FOLDS | The Greenville Standard
The Greenville Dixie Belles were scheduled to continue the state tournament on July 10 but because of rainy weather the games were canceled until the following Monday night at the Greenville Softball Complex.
The Belles had only lost one game against Underwood Saturday night, which they lost 13-3.
The Dixie Belles took the diamond Monday night against the Dothan Dixie Belles. Both teams took the field, which was muddy and wet, hoping to come away with a win. Greenville was at the plate first and they jumped on Dothan with two hits and one run. Greenville held Dothan to no runs until the bottom of the third inning when Dothan managed to score one run, which tied the game at one all.
In the top of the fourth inning the Greenville Belles put two more runs on the board, but Dothan would not be outdone. In the bottom of the fourth inning they came back and scored one run making the score 3-2.
Greenville got a break in the top of the fifth inning when Shelby Lawrence hit a blooper between the pitcher and second baseman and they were able, on a wild throw, to score four runs on Dothan. In the bottom of the fifth, Dothan came back with a double and RBI, scored two runs and made the score 8 – 3.
There were a lot of high fives, smiles and hugs after Greenville’s win over Dothan. (Cecil Folds | The Standard)
Greenville was not able to get a hit in the top of the sixth.
Gracie Whiddon, Greenville’s pitcher, managed to hold Dothan to no hits and no runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the top of the seventh inning, which was Greenville’s last chance to do something at the plate, they managed to get two hits but could not get a runner across the plate. Dothan came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh trying to make a comeback. They made two hits and two runs, but it was too little too late, as they went down in defeat against Greenville 8-6.
Troy’s Dixie Belles also played Monday night against Underwood’s Dixie Belles. Troy won 2-1. This left a three way tie between Greenville, Troy and Underwood and the tournament carried over until Tuesday.
Greenville played and won against Troy with a final score of 4-1. The Greenville girls then advanced to the final round of the tournament.
After some bad weather delays, the tournament resumed at 3 p.m. at the Beeland Complex, for the state championship game with Greenville facing off against Underwood.
The Greenville Dixie Belles gave it their best effort, but the Underwood team was just a little bit better team in the end and won 16-0 over Greenville. After a long, hard, hot weekend, the Greenville Dixie Belles softball team came in second place in the state tournament. Congratulations to the Greenville Belles on their hard fought games as they did Greenville proud!
