Sports Writer

The Goshen High School Lady Eagles completed their first year of fast pitch softball losing two games at the 1A/2A Section 1 Tournament falling to Isabella 5-2 and Marbury 11-5 in Clanton Saturday afternoon.

The weekend got off to a rough start before the bus pulled out of Goshen Friday evening when sophomore second baseman and lead off hitter Courtney Blackmon was lost for the sectional tournament when she stepped on a broken bottle shortly and cut her foot shortly before school. Blackmon, who hit .416 on the season, was also the leading base stealer for the Lady Eagles.

GHS head coach Deanne Hughes said Blackmon’s freak injury played a huge role in Goshen’s early tournament exit.

"It took the wind out of our sails and lowered the team’s morale because she couldn’t play," Hughes said. "We missed her scrappiness at the top of the lineup."

Here is a summary of both tournament games.

Isabella 5 Goshen 2

In the first game Saturday morning, the Lady Eagles were the victim of bad breaks and poor defense as they fell to host school Isabella 5-2.

The defense in the game was the play in the field by both teams as Goshen (5-22) committed four errors compared to just two for Isabella. In addition, the Lady Eagles got some unusual bad breaks costing them outs with a runner on third base on three separate occasions.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when Isabella scored four runs off three GHS errors to take the lead for good. The Lady Eagles answered scoring single runs in the fourth and

fifth innings for all of their offense in the game. In the top of the fourth, Ashley Miniard started the inning with a single and lifted for

courtesy runner Audra Shumpert who reached third on a passed ball and scored on an error. Goshen scored its other run in the top of the fifth when Heather West walked and scored on an error.

West, Miniard, Candi Faulkner and Candi Kilpatrick each ended up with one hit apiece for Goshen in a losing cause.

Despite putting forth one of her better efforts of the season, West was the hard luck loser allowing just three hits while walking two and striking out five over six innings in defeat.

Marbury 11 Goshen 5

In the second game, the Lady Eagles saw their tournament dreams quickly dashed as they fell to Marbury 11-5 in the loser’s bracket Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Eagles got on the board early scoring one run in the top of the first when Faulkner reached on an error and scored from first on a poor throw following Miniard’s successful sacrifice bunt.

After Marbury tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first, the Lady Bulldogs took the lead for good scoring 10 of the next 11 runs over a four inning span to take control of the game.

Tiffany Brooks scored and drove in a run while Jessica Drivas delivered a RBI fielder’s choice in the fifth inning. Kilpatrick and Faulkner each scored a run in the run sixth for the Lady Eagles.

With the tournament wide open, Hughes said the Lady Eagles were hoping for a deeper tournament run.

"I felt like we were the closest challenge to Thorsby (the tournament favorite)," Hughes said. "We were disappointed to be put out."

Despite winning just five games this year, Huges said there are positives to build on going into next spring following a season of learning and adjusting to the fast pitch game. Among those positives include having every starter back in 2002 and GHS earning four victories over schools above in classification include Dothan (6A), two victories over Greenville (5A) and Montgomery Academy (3A).

"I think we built a strong foundation knowing we can play this caliber of ball despite having so many seventh, eighth and ninth graders," Hughes said. "We proved it by beating good teams we can play on this level. Despite having a losing record, the girls had a really good attitude about the season and they really stepped up to the challenge. Our knowledge about the fast pitch game is better because we learned about the game every day."