Troy softball teams fair well in weekend play

Published 3:00 am Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Three Troy Softball Tournament teams were in action over the weekend, in the District Warm-up Tournament at the Sportsplex. The Troy Darlings, Angels and Ponytails finished the tournament with a combined 5-6 record.

The Troy Darlings picked up a 21-5 win over Ozark over the weekend, before being defeated by both Dothan and Andalusia.

Darlings head coach Shane Griffin was impressed with his team’s effort over the weekend and believed his girls worked really hard.

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“We looked pretty good,” Griffin said. “We made a few mistakes which is to be expected. Overall, I was really pleased with the effort they gave. Playing three games in one day, I was real proud of them.”

Even with the team’s mistakes Griffin said he believed his team will be ready for the District Tournament Friday.

“We made some mistakes but we have a week to correct those mistakes and to get ready for Friday night,” Griffin said.

The Troy Darlings will head to Luverne to take part in the Sub-District Tournament Friday night.

The Troy Angels finished the tournament with a 2-2 record with the Angels defeating Enterprise 5-1 and Ozark 9-0.

“I was very impressed,” said head coach Terry Garret. “We went out to win the first game and we got more players some work in the next two.”

After practicing hard over the last two weeks, Garret said he thought his team has come a long way, but knows they need to keep working hard to take further strides before District Tournament time.

“We need to have a little more control by our pitchers.” Garret said. “If we do a little better at throwing strikes, then I think we have a really good shot at making it all the way through districts.”

The team as a whole played great according to Garret, but one player stood out over the weekend.

Ally Rushing finished the tournament going a perfect seven for seven at the plate in the four games the Angles played.

With the Angels success over the weekend, Garret said he was excited to see what his girls can do this weekend in District Tournament play.

“The way they are playing it looks like they have played together for five years,” Garret said. “They are playing as a team and having fun with each other. I was most impressed with how well they came together as a team and how they cheered each other on. They have only been together for a couple weeks, and they did really well. I am very excited to see what happens this weekend.”

The Angles will be in action again starting on Friday when they take part in the Sub-District Tournament in Luverne. The Angles first round match up will be against Opp this Friday as well.

Like the Angels, the Troy Ponytails finished the warm-up tournament with a 2-2 record having defeated Eufaula 13-1 and Opp 8-3.

The Ponytails’ two losses came at the hands of Kinston and Andalusia.

Opp was the only team from this weekend’s tournament that will also participate in the District Tournament with the Ponytails. The two teams will go head-to-head again on Friday night in Luverne. Ponytails head coach Matt Leverette said it was good to see how well the girls played together over the weekend and is looking forward to district play this upcoming weekend.

“We did well,” Leverette said. “It was nice to see how we stacked up with some other teams in the area. I thought it was a good day for us.”

Leverette said both the team’s pitching and hitting were solid over the weekend, but the team still had some areas left for improvement.

“One thing we will have to work on is our defense,” Leverette said. “We were good at times, but we had moments when we had some lapses.”

The Ponytails will head to Luverne this Friday night to take on Opp in the first round of their Sub-District Tournament.