By Devin Smith

Spring athletics were in full swing at Pike Liberal Arts on Saturday as both the softball and baseball teams took the field at home against the Lee Scott Warriors.

In the Lady Patriots contest it took a late rally to force extra innings before sealing the 6-5 comeback victory with a walk off sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Pike Lib struggled to produce runs for much of the game despite having multiple runners in scoring position, and prior to their late scoring spree had left eight runners on base.

Head coach Allie Park didn’t feel like her team had the right attitude going into the game, and it show in their sloppy play in the early going.

“I felt like at the very beginning we just weren’t ready,” Park said. “We had been playing a lot this weekend and doing very well, and I feel like we might have been getting a little cocky.”

As the game trailed on the deficit continued to grow up to 4-0 for the Patriots after an error in the top of the fifth allowed two runs to score for Lee Scott, however it would finally wake up the Lady Patriots.

After Amberlyn Baker was hit by a pitch to opening to bottom of the fifth a double by Kayla Benton put both runners in scoring position, allowing Ellie Barron to fly out to right field in order to get the first two runs of the day for the Patriots.

After a scoreless sixth by both teams Lee Scott would get hits off the first two batters at the plate and an error allowed another run to be driven in, making any chance of a Patriots comeback seem unlikely at 5-2.

A short chopper forced the first batter of the seventh inning out, but it would be followed by a double by Baker followed by a single from Kayla Benton to put the game-tying run at the plate.

Ellie Barron would follow the trend with a triple that would set the stage for the tying run to be driven in by a single with two outs.

After sweeping the first three outs of the eighth inning the Patriots would not allow their chance to end the game pass them by. After a bunt put the winning run on third Kayla Dendy would finish off the Warriors with a walk-off sacrifice fly to right field.

“After having all those chances and not being able to execute I think finally they just wanted it bad enough,” Park said. “We’ve been struggling with that this past week and I think they just got mad enough and wanted to do it.”

The varsity boys’ team also got the better of the Warriors on Saturday, winning both games of the double header.

Pike Lib would finish off Lee Scott in six innings for the first game by a margin of 12-2.

A six-run effort in the fourth inning fueled the lopsided victory, led by a game breaking home run from Brian Adams in the meat of the lineup.

The second game of the day was much more competitive than the first, but still saw the Patriots cruising smoothly to a 7-2 win.

The Warriors threw the first punch early in the first off of an RBI single, but Pike Lib would quickly answer with an RBI double while also tacking on an additional three runs for the 4-1 advantage going into the second.

Lee Scott would keep the scoring margin at three runs until the bottom of the fourth inning when each of the first three Patriot batter would score, widening the gap to six runs before the Warriors would score their final run in the fifth.

Both the boys and girls will suit up again on Monday to face Edgewood, with the boys playing a double header. First pitch for the boys is set for 3 p.m., and the Lady Patriots are to follow with first pitch at 3:30 p.m.

UPDATED:The Pike Liberal Arts JV softball team took part in a tournament over the weekend at Macon-East Montgomery Academy.

2.22.14: JV Pike vs. Macon-East JV – Loss 9-2

The Lady Patriots were able to score 2 runs off 5 hits against the Lady Knights. The Lady Knights were able to score 9 runs off 6 hits. The Lady Patriots also allowed 2 errors that allowed runs to score.

2.22.14: JV Pike vs. Hooper – WIN 1-0

The Lady Patriots played their second game of the Macon-East tournament vs. Hooper Colts. This game was a pitcher’s dual. Hooper’s pitcher struck out 7 Lady Patriot batters while Pike’s Bailey Rushing struck out 11 Hooper batters. Rushing only allowed one hit for the game; however the Lady  Patriots were able to hold the Lady Colts to no runs but still allowing 2 errors for the Colts to have runners on base. Mallory Clifton led off the third inning with a walk followed by a single by Katelyn Dendy. Mya Terry laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Clifton and Dendy into scoring position. Clifton however earned the only run for the Lady Patriots by a passed ball  by the catcher allowing the Lady Patriots to win 1-0.

2.22.14: JV Pike vs. Glenwood  – Loss 6-0

Danielle Brown was 2-2 with a double and a single. Bailey Rushing was 1-2 with a single. Bailey Rushing threw a 3 hit game with 8 strikeouts. The Lady Patriots were not able to put hits together to score against the Lady Gators.

Pike Liberal coach Allie Park said the tournament was a good learning experience for the team.

“This tournament was great learning experience for the Pike JV Softball team. They made some mental mistakes. But they’ll play more games, gain more confidence as the season goes on, learn and be able to make the adjustments they need to for the future.”