in 5-4 loss to Colliersville

By STEVEN G. WATSON

Sports Editor

It wasn’t a perfect weekend for the Charles Henderson High Lady Trojans softball team, but it was one that left very few heads hanging.

After losing their first game of the 2000 Trojan Classic 10-0 to Hartselle Friday, the Lady Trojans rebounded to post a 5-2 win over Tarrent and a 7-4 victory over Clay Chalkville Saturday. That put them in the second round of the single-elimination bracket facing probably the toughest team in the tourney – Colliersville, Tn.

Although time expired on CHHS and Colliersville took home a tight 5-4 victory to advance, Lady Trojan head coach Steve Haug and his squad felt good about there showing – especially since they were the first team to score on CHS and were only a hit away from upsetting them.

"They came through big, they were only one hit from going ahead," Haug said. "Getting the hits they did off of that kid, they’ve never seen anything like that."

Haug’s endorsement of the Colliersville pitcher, sophomore Muriel Ledbetter, was well deserved. She struck out 16 of 18 batters in one game during the tournament, threw a 65 mile an hour fast ball and was possibly one of the toughest pitchers the Lady Trojans will face this year.

Still, with a shutout looming large, CHHS mounted a huge comeback in the bottom of the sixth.

After a fly out to short by Emily Watkins, the Lady Trojans put together a single by Emily Christian, a walk by Kelly Miller then a triple by Ashley Faust to clear the bases and score the first points of the tournament against CHS.

CHHS followed that up with a double by Christie Bradley and a single by Nicki Wingard, both scoring runs to draw the Lady Trojans within one. Christine Haug then singled to put runners on the corners and eventually stole second to be only a single away from taking a lead.

Ledbetter settled down at that point, however and struck out the last two Charles Henderson batters, accounting for her 10th and 11th strikeouts of the game. Then the contest was called due to time restrictions.

Haug felt this was a great weekend for his team. Playing without their star pitcher, Betsy White, the rest of team had to step up big and they did just that.

"I think this was great for our team because they had to pull things out from other places," Haug said. "Other people had to step up and that will make us much better.

"We won two ball games against two good teams and gave that team all they could handle," he continued. "I couldn’t be prouder of them. I didn’t expect to go all the way when you had to face a team like Colliersville. If they don’t win it all I’ll be surprised."

The two losses and two wins leaves CHHS with an 11-3 overall record with their next matchup coming Monday in a 4 p.m. game with St. James on the road in Montgomery.