By Wil Crews
sportscrews@opelikaobserver.com
The Beauregard Varsity Girls’ softball team travelled to a tournament in Auburn last Friday in search of pitching depth.
The Hornets lost the first game of the tournament to the Wetumpka Indians. Their search for confidence behind any pitcher, besides Chattahoochee Valley Community College commit Madison “Mac” McDonald, continued. Ninth grader Keely Kirby got the start and went 3.1 innings. The Beauregard defense didn’t do the freshman pitcher any favors with three errors, and neither did their bats. Despite Tori Gouker pitching the final 1.2 innings and allowing only one unearned run on two hits, Beauregard fell 12-4. Madison Champion went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI to lead the way for the Hornets at the plate.
“We told our team if they will solidify the defense and swing the bats like we are capable of, a 12-4 game is 6-4, and a chance to win – and that is what we have to do,” said Beauregard head coach Scott Meadows.
The second game of the tournament against Houston Academy saw the same pitching combo of Kirby and Gouker on the mound again for the Hornets. This time it was Gouker starting and Kirby coming in relief, but the end result was the same. Champion had a double and one RBI and Caroline Willis was 2-for-3, but it was not enough.
“Houston Academy had a solid lineup with some good sticks in it and our heads were down a little, contributing to the loss,” Meadows said. “If our pitchers will eliminate some of the walks, our defense plays solid and we apply pressure with the bats, we can be competitive with other pitchers in the circle besides McDonald.”
On Saturday, Beauregard played two games, the first against Alabama Christian Academy with McDonald in the circle.
“The whole team mindset was like it should be every time we take the field,” Meadows said.
The Hornets scored three in the first inning and never looked back on the way to a dominant 11-0 win. Mac scattered four hits across four innings of work. Cooper Watson led the way on offense, going 3-for-3 with a home run, double, four RBI and three runs scored. Katie Wilkerson went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and two runs. To add to her impressive performance on the mound, McDonald went 1-for-3 at the plate with a triple and two RBI.
The second game of the day was against Auburn High.
“I told our girls if they didn’t feel like we could win to sign out and go on home,” Meadows said.
His message must have lit a fire under his girls as the Hornets came out and put up three runs in the first inning. Then they scored four in the third, one in the fourth and one more in the fifth to secure the 9-2 win.
Mac was on the mound once again, instilling confidence in her teammates through her performance. The senior went five innings, giving up only one earned run on three hits, striking out six batters. She also went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and three RBI. Wilkerson went 2-for-4 with a double and three runs scored; Gouker went 2-for-3 with two RBI; Champion and Willis went 2-for-4 with one RBI apiece to round out the hitting highlights.
The Hornets now sit at 7-5 on the season, with their first area game upcoming against Brewbaker Tech later this week. However, first, Beauregard has a date at home versus Benjamin Russell on Wednesday. Results were not available at time of press.