Softball falls in SIAC title game
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
HAMPTON, Ga. -- The task was big coming into Championship Saturday for the Miles softball team. Win three consecutive games, two of them against two-time defending champion Tuskegee, and win the SIAC softball title and a spot in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament. The Golden Bears took care of the first game, drilling Claflin 13-0, but lost 10-8 to the Golden Tigerettes, who have now won three straight league titles.
GAME 1 - (W2) Miles 13, (E1) Claflin 0 (5 innings)
Miles wasted no time dismantling the Panthers, scoring seven times in the first inning en route to a run-rule win and elimination of the East Division's top seed.
Talana Brown was excellent in the circle, allowing just three singles and striking out three in the complete-game shutout.
Victoria McDaniel drove in
Kendruena McPhereson, who doubled and stole third to start the game, with a sacrifice bunt for an early advantage. But the big blow came with the bases loaded, when
Jasmine Langston doubled in two runs and a third runner,
Khandi White-Tolbert, scored on an errant throw for a 4-0 lead. A second error allowed LAngston to score and Brown brought in another with a RBI triple. She scored on a passed ball to make the score 7-0 after one inning.
With Brown controlling the game from the circle, the game was effectively over. But the Golden Bears would score in every inning to eliminate any doubt. White-Tolbert drove in a run in the second, McDaniel and
Jamellya Ducker had RBI in the third, and Brown drove in another run as part of a 3-run fourth inning.
GAME 2 - (W1) Tuskegee 10, (W2) Miles 8
An offensive slugfest between the two rivals ended with the Golden Bears coming up just short, going down with the tying run at the plate in the seventh.
Miles trailed 10-6 and was down to its final out when the game got interesting. With Brown standing on third, Ducker ripped a double to left field to score the run. She was followed by an RBI double from
Kathryne Lambert to brought White-Tolbert up with the tying run. But the third baseman popped up a 1-2 pitch for the final out, handing Tuskegee its third straight league crown.
The Golden Bears trailed 2-0 going into the fourth inning but scored five times to take the lead. Ducker, White-Tolbert, and
Ashlee Alexander each had RBI during the frame and Miles looked as if it was going to be able to force a Tuskegee into a winner-take-all game for the title. But the Golden Tigerettes had other ideas, scoring six times in the bottom of the inning to retake control. Miles cut the deficit to 8-6 in the fifthe when Lambert's RBI double scored McDaniel but Tuskegee added two runs in the sixth for some cushion going into the final inning.
2016 SIAC Softball All-Tournament Team
Edward Colvin, Tuskegee – Coach of the Tournament
Karisa Foye, Tuskegee - Tournament MVP
Kaylin Finch, Tuskegee
Sharde Thomas, Tuskegee
Beth Thomas, Tuskegee
Khandi White-Tolbert, Miles
Jamellya Ducker, Miles
Victoria McDaniel, Miles
LaKaylin Lee, Claflin
Ambrionna Atkism, Albany State
Â
Â
