Facing elimination at the North Regional Tournament in Huntsville on Thursday night, Russellville rallied from an early five-run deficit with a huge fifth inning, only to watch Boaz prevail 9-8 on a walk-off home run by Sarah Diamond with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
The Lady Golden Tigers, who lost 6-4 to Ardmore in their tournament opener on Thursday afternoon, finished the season with a record of 27-23-1.
Boaz, which lost its first game on Thursday to Scottsboro, jumped out to an early lead on Russellville with two runs in the bottom of the first. The Lady Pirates added three more runs in the third, stretching the lead to 5-0 on a two-run homer by Autumn Patterson.
Russellville came alive in the top of the fifth, rallying for seven runs to take the lead. Karlie Moore led off the inning with a single, and Makala O’Neal was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch, and Moore scored when Madison Lamon reached on a fielder’s choice. Another wild pitch brought home the second run of the inning, and then Sydney Burcham smacked a two-run homer to center—her third of the season—to cut the lead to 5-4.
One out later, Kourtney Joyner reached on an error, and Alivia Clemmons followed with a single. With two outs and runners at second and third, freshman catcher Madison Murray delivered a two-run single to left to put the Lady Golden Tigers on top. Moore added her second hit of the inning, an RBI single to center, to bring home Murray and make it 7-5.
Boaz quickly answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, tying the game on a two-run double by Patterson and then taking an 8-7 lead on a two-out RBI single by Caitlin Vandiver.
Down to their final three outs, the Lady Golden Tigers rallied again in the top of the seventh. Clemmons led off with a hit, stole second and scored the tying run on senior Kayla Cochran’s clutch RBI single. Russellville reliever Emma Whitfield retired the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh before Diamond delivered a walk-off homer to left, giving Boaz a 9-8 win.
Moore led the Lady Golden Tigers at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run. Clemmons was 2-for-3 with two runs and two stolen bases, and Burcham went 1-for-3 with the two-run homer. Kalli Beth Daniel was 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, and Cochran and Murray also had one hit apiece.
Patterson went 2-for-4 for Boaz with four RBIs. Vandiver was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Sarah Clontz pitched a complete game to earn the win, allowing eight runs (five earned) on nine hits in seven innings. She struck out seven and walked two.
