Lady Wildcats remain undefeated at end of week

The Lady Wildcats had a busy week as they started their play 2-0 and finished up Friday still with a perfect record, 6-0.

Trumann 7, Rivercrest 5

Hailey Brewer pitched all seven innings in the opening win of the week Tuesday when the Lady Cats traveled to Wilson for the first of two conference games against Rivercrest.

The Lady Colts gave Trumann a scare, though, as they went out to a 2-0 lead. The Lady Wildcats didn't score until the third inning when Brionna Crume went in for a run to close the lead to one, 2-1.

With neither team able to score in the fourth, Crume once again punched across a run to tie the game 2-all in the top of the fifth. Rivercrest responded for the first time since the opening inning, scoring once for a 3-2 advantage.

They then went up 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth after Trumann was unable to make anything happen in the top of the inning. Then, finally, in the top of the last inning, Trumann did make something happen.

First Crume once again, then Bailey Ballard, Cristin Guthrie, Molly Begley and Brewer punched in five runs to take a 7-4 lead, their first in the game.

The Lady Cats then held on, allowing Rivercrest only one run to take back the near-upset, 7-5.

Crume led the offense, going 2 for 3 with three runs scored. Brewer followed with a 2 for 4 day, scoring once, while Ballard was 1 for 2 with an RBI. Benson, Cecelia Moye and Shea Holman all went 1 for 3 with Holman knocking in two runs and Moye one. Guthrie and Begley had identical games, both hitting once in four at-bats, scoring once and registering an RBI.

Brewer (3-0) gave up 13 hits and four earned runs while walking six and striking out six for the win.

Trumann 9, Rivercrest 8

The Lady Wildcats returned to Wilson the next day, Wednesday, and this time needed even more of a comeback and more innings to take the win.

"We didn't play very well either day," coach Brian Haynes said later. "We came from behind both days and had to fight through errors and silly mistakes to win the games."

After a scoreless first inning for both teams, Crume and Moye put Trumann ahead 2-0 when they scored in the second and third innings respectively.

The bottom seemed to fall out in the bottom of the third, however, when the lady Colts rallied for four runs and a 4-2 lead. Crume and W--------------Holman tied the game 4-4 in the top of the fourth. Guthrie added a run in the fifth and Crume her final run in the sixth as the Lady Cats once again went up by two runs, 6-4.

Rivercrest once again rallied for two runs and the 6-6 tie entering the seventh inning.

Guthrie got her second run of the day to give Trumann a 7-6 lead, but the lady Colts tied it to put the game into extra innings. The eighth inning was identical to the seventh, both teams scoring, with Ballard doing the honors to send the game into the ninth and final inning.

Begley scored what turned out to be the game's winning run as Rivercrest finally wasn't able to respond and the Lady Wildcats took another nail-biter, 9-8.

Crume was perfect at the plate, getting three hits in three at-bats while scoring three runs and knocking in another three runs. Guthrie followed with a 3 for 5 day, scoring twice and adding one RBI. Moye was 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI while Benson and Shea Holman were 2 for 5, and both Begley and Whitney Holman were 1 for 4 with one run each. Ballard finished 1 for 3 with one run.

Brewer pitched the first four innings, giving up four runs on three hits and two walks. Benson followed and gained the win in five innings giving up four runs on four hits and four walks while striking out two.

Trumann 5, Brookland 4

The Lady Cats were on the road again as they went to Brookland Thursday to meet the Lady Bearcats in a non-conference game.

"Offensively we didn't play well," said Haynes. "Defensively we didn't do too bad, but we didn't hit like we should and barely pulled out a win."

Benson got the first of her three hits on the day and followed with a run of her own three batters later to give the Lady Wildcats a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the first inning. Brookland could do nothing in their at-bat and Benson came back in the second inning to score her second run. Trumann seemingly had a comfortable 3-0 lead. The Lady Bearcats were starting to come alive, though, and had a short, two-run rally in the bottom of the inning to pull back to within one, 3-2.

Shea Holman then got her only run of the game in the top of the third for a 4-2 lead. The fourth and fifth innings were goose eggs for the Lady Cats while Brookland managed to score another run to get within one of Trumann, 4-3. The Lady Wildcats finally scored again in the top of the sixth as Benson ran in from third for the final time for a 5-3 lead.

Brookland couldn't score in the bottom of the sixth and, when Trumann followed suit in the top of the seventh, it was left to the Lady Bearcats to win or lose the game in the bottom of the last inning. And while Brookland did score one more run, the game ended with the tying run on second when the home team flied out.

Benson led the hitting, going 3 for 3 with three runs, while Whitney Holman was 2 for 4, Begley was 1 for 3, while Moye, Shea Holman and Chastity Pierce finished 1 for 4, Holman scoring once. Brewer scored once.

Brewer also pitched the first 1 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on one hit and two walks while striking out one. Benson pitched the final 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks. She also struck out three.

Trumann 14, Midland 6

The Lady Wildcats closed out the week Friday in Nettleton as they took on Midland in the first round of the Lady Raider tournament. And finally, after three harrowing games, Trumann got a breather, winning in four innings, 14-6.

"We played without Brionna and Christin was out three innings with an injury," Haynes said. "But we played well. They had problems with our pitching."

The first and second innings were close as Trumann scored four runs to Midland's two to open the game then outscored them 5-4 for a 9-6 lead entering the third. At that point, the Lady Wildcats broke the game open, scoring five to none for Midland.

Then with a final run in the fourth and final inning, Trumann took the game 14-6.

Whitney Holman led the hitting with a 2 for 3 day with three RBIs. Benson finished with four runs on a 1 for 2 afternoon, while Ballard was also 1 for 2 with a run scored. Guthrie and Shea Holman were 1 for 3, with Guthrie scoring twice with an RBI while Holman knocked in two. Ballard was 1 for 2 with a run scored, Begley 1 for 1 with three runs and two RBIs while Moye scored three runs and Brewer one.

Brewer pitched 1 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and one walk. Benson finished the game going 3 2/3, giving up four runs on five hits and two walks.

"We haven't played a complete game yet," concluded Haynes. "We're pulling out wins and getting good bench play right now but we need to start playing smarter and consistently."