Troy scored seven runs in the first two innings and defeated Montgomery Gray 7-6 in the opening round of the Ponytails state tournament.

“We jumped up on them,” said head coach Matt Leverette said. “They were a good ball team, but we played probably played the most complete game we have played since the tournaments started. Our girls played very well.”

Emily Williamson finished the game 2-3 with an inside the park homerun. McKenzie Cain went 2-3, Morgan Bundy went 1-3 with a double, Rayleigh Carter went 1-2, Sadie Leverette went 1-2 with a double, Heather Maxwell went 1-2 and Aerial Frazier finished 1-2.

Bundy pitched the first three innings of the game, while Leverette pitched the final three.

Even with the seven runs, it was Troy’s defense that helped them win the game.

Carter made a catch on a live drive to center field and also threw a runner on Friday night. Cain also threw out a base runner at second base.

“All of those plays saved the game,” Leverette said. “We had a number of great defensive plays.

The Ponytails will be back in action on Saturday when they take on Waterloo at 10 a.m.

 

Troy Sweetees 22 Underwood 10

 

The Troy Sweetees began their state tournament with a 22-10 win over Underwood on Friday in Montgomery.

“They looked really good,” said head coach Anthony Dixon. “Tonight was probably the best defense we have every played I was really proud of them and for their effort.”

Troy sent the maximum 10 batters to the plate in the first innings of the game and jumped out to a comfortable lead early. From there the defense went to work for Troy

“That helped us out a lot,” Dixon said. “We played good defense from there and we were able to get three straight outs in two innings.”

On the offensive side of the ball, Dixon had trouble singling anybody out because it was team effort and everyone contributed.

“I couldn’t pinpoint one or two players tonight,” Dixon said. “It was really a complete team effort form the infielders and outfielders and up and down the lineup.”

Troy will be back in action today when they play the winner of Tallassee and Luverne at 11:30.

 

Troy Darlings 15 Montgomery American 18

 

The Darlings found themselves down early and could not quite crawl back for a comeback win on Friday.

“We were down the entire game,” said Darlings head coach Neal Armstrong. “We were making a fierce comeback. We got it from 18-9 to 18-15. We just needed one or two big hits at the end, but they just happened to make some good defensive plays.”

Troy was able to crawl back into the game on the backs of their offense. Hailey Owens, Jada Jones and Clara Chandler all had had big hits to help fuel a comeback.

“They all had big hits every time they came up to bat,” Armstrong said. “They came through big time for us during the comeback innings.”

Troy scored seven runs in the second inning, followed up by a single run in the third. After not scoring in the fourth they scored six runs in the fifth and almost came back to win.

The one thing holding them back in round one according to their head coach was the play of their defense.

“In two innings we had six outs because we didn’t make the outs when they were handed two us,” Armstrong said. “That is what beat us. I knew we would score 14, 15 or 16 runs. We have the bats, but our defense bit us in the butt.

Troy will now head into the losers bracket where they will play the loser of the district one winner and Scottsboro at 9 a.m. today.

“We are going to come back with the same girls that we rode up with and we are going to play better,” Armstrong said.”