Sports Editor

OPP -The Troy Dixie Belles softball team started sub-district tournament play off with a bang, beating Elba by the final score of 35-1 and winning over Opp on Friday night, 9-0.

Troy used five pitchers on Thursday night against Elba to total 10 strike outs and allow only two hits in 22 batters faced.

The game was basically over in the first inning as Troy recorded 14 runs. Troy had 31 hits in the game. Scoring runs for Troy were: Samantha Johnson (6), Ashton Spann (5), Janie Boswell, Brittany Carlisle and Allie Park (4 each), Chelsea Howard and Ashley Simmons (3 each), Whitney Flowers (2) and Malerie Sanders, Whitney Johnson, Lindsey Garner and Autumn Welch all touched homplate once.

Howard and Carlisle added inside-the-park home runs for Troy.

Against Opp on Friday, Johnson had a sacrifice fly in the third inning to up Troy’s lead to 2-0 and Howard, Simmons, and Flowers all rounded the bases for three more runs in the fourth. In the seventh, Spann, Malerie Sanders, Howard and Park added four runs to finish the scoring for Troy.

Three pitchers worked the mound for Troy, giving up just two hits to Opp. Carlisle pitched the first two innings, facing six batters and striking out two. Park faced nine batters in the third and fourth innings and struck out three, while Welch closed the game for Troy, retiring four batters in 12 faced.

"Our defense works really well together," said head coach Bo Carlisle. "They truly help our pitchers out by making the plays."