Katie Thomas drove in two runs for Phil Campbell on Tuesday, one of which broke up a tie game in the seventh inning and sent the Lady Bobcats to a 3-2 win over area rival Sulligent.
Phil Campbell (7-1 overall, 2-1 in Class 2A, Area 14) led 2-0 after an RBI double by Thomas in the top of the third, but Sulligent tied the game on a two-out, two-run single by Anna Sandlin in the bottom of the fifth. Neither team scored in the sixth, and then the Lady Bobcats reclaimed the lead in the top of the seventh.
Emma Ergle led off with a single, and courtesy runner Emily Duncan stole second before moving to third on a sac bunt by Olivia Knight. Duncan then tagged up and scored the go-ahead run on Thomas’s fly ball to right.
Ergle (5-1) pitched around an error to start the bottom of the seventh, retiring the next three batters on two groundouts and a strikeout to end the threat. She picked up the win with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, striking out four and holding Sulligent without a hit.
Phil Campbell jumped in front early with a run in the top of the first. Thomas, a freshman catcher, drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on the first of three sacrifice bunts on the day by Darby Elliott. Courtesy runner Madison Branch scored when Leeah Jackson reached on an error, making it 1-0.
The Lady Bobcats put another run on the board in the third when Knight singled and then came home on Thomas’s double to right. Phil Campbell starter Emily Swinney set Sulligent down in order in the bottom of the third and then stranded two runners in the fourth, but the Lady Blue Devils tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth on Sandlin’s clutch two-out hit.
Ergle relieved in the circle at that point and hit a batter before recording a strikeout to escape the jam. She hit another batter in the sixth but struck out two more to keep the game tied, and then Phil Campbell won it in the seventh.
Swinney pitched 4.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits. Sandlin took the loss for Sulligent despite striking out 10 batters in a complete game. She allowed two earned runs on four hits and three walks.
Thomas was 1-for-2 with two RBIs, and Knight went 2-for-2 and scored a run. Ergle had Phil Campbell’s only other hit.
