Brashear Takes 3rd in Atlanta Softball Tournament August 27, 2011

Brashear and Novinger squared off Saturday morning to start their play in the Atlanta Tournament. The Lady Tigers spotted Novinger a run in the bottom of the 1st and Novinger never relinquished the lead. The Lady Wildcats added single runs in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Brashear did their only scoring in the 4th as Cierra Hines hit a leadoff triple, then Shelby Salter smacked an inside the park home run. Novinger picked up the win 4-2. Cierra Hines had 2 hits and Shelby Salter had a homerun for Brashear. Reardon, Blackorby, Singleton, and May had hits for Novinger. Jacques was the winning pitcher and Kristin Love took the loss.

In the 2nd game, Brashear took on LaPlata. The Lady Bulldogs scored 3 runs in the 1st and another pair in the 2nd to lead Brashear 5-0 after 2 innings. LaPlata added another 4 in the 4th. Brashear finally got on the scoreboard in the 5th as Alexa Acton and Meredith Thomas got on base and Alli Garrett and Cierra Hines drove them home. The final score was LaPlata 9 - Brashear 2. Meredith Thomas, Alli Garrett, Cierra Hines, Katie Smith, and Alexa Acton all had hits for Brashear. Eitel, Snodgrass, Shahan, Belt, Janes, Safely, and Kimmel had hits for LaPlata. Belt was the winning pitcher with Kristin Love taking the loss.

Brashear faced Atlanta next for the right to play in the 3rd place game. The Lady Tigers scored 2 in the 1st and 2 in the 2nd with Atlanta answering with 3 in the 2nd. Brashear blew the game open with a 13-run 4th to claim a 17-4 victory and advance to the 3rd place game and a rematch with Novinger. Alexa Acton picked up the win for Brashear with Reed taking the loss for Atlanta.

Brashear was ready to avenge their earlier loss to Novinger, and quickly went to work scoring 6 runs in the 1st inning and 3 more in the 2nd. Meanwhile, Novinger was held to a run in the 3rd and 2 more in the 4th as Brashear rolled to a 15-3 win to claim the 3rd place trophy. Meredith Thomas, Cierra Hines, and Shelby Salter had 2 hits each for Brashear with Katie Watson, Alli Garrett, and Ashley Moncrief also having hits. For Novinger, Hubbard and Gunnels had hits. Cierra Hines picked up the win for Brashear, throwing a 2-hitter while allowing no walks. Jacques took the loss for Novinger.

In the 1st place game, LaPlata edged Schuyler County 8-7.