OXFORD, Ala- A late rally from the Lee University softball team was not enough as the Lady Flames season came to an end at the Gulf South Conference softball championship on Thursday afternoon. After trailing by as many as ten run, Lee rallied for four straight runs but could not get any closer as Lee fell 11-5 to Valdosta State University.
After neither team scored in the first, VSU broke the game open with six runs in the top of the second. Brandie Seber drove in the first run and then a double from Morgan Hill made it a 2-0 game. Then a couple of batters later, Aniston Gano hit a grand slam to make it 6-0.
In the bottom of the second, the Lady Flames loaded the bases but could not bring anyone home. Lee did get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third with a solo home run from Hailey Simco.
VSU extended the lead again in the top of the fourth when Saylor McNearney hit a two-run home run to make it 8-0. The Blazers then scored their final three runs in the fifth Hill and Gano each had RBI and then Hill scored on a double steal.
Lee rallied in the bottom of the fifth with four runs. Bella Galloway drove in Rylie Goodridge to make it 11-2. Annalyn Ormsby then had a two RBI double to score Galloway and Laney Harris. The final run came when Alexa Scalzo drove Ormsby in. The Lady Flames threatened again in the sixth and seventh but could not score again.
Nine different Lady Flames got hits in the loss as they outhit VSU 14-12. Javaria Smith had three hits while Galloway and Ormsby each had two. Natalie Pruitt (3-1) took the loss as she threw four innings and gave up eight runs on nine hits with two strikeouts. Olivia Tyson threw three innings in relief and gave up three runs on three hits while striking out four.
The Lady Flames ended the season with a 20-27 record.
Coach Emily Russell's Thoughts:
"No one has responded with as much adversity as these girls have. It got away from us a couple of times. Hopefully it is momentum for later when we are working on it. We had a lot of girls with not much game experience. Now hopefully we will see the needle move forward."
