Mooreville’s Mason delivers with bat, arm in win over Saltillo

By Chris Rushing
Special to the Journal

SALTILLO – Courtney Mason delivered a two-out, two-run single in the top of the third inning and tossed seven innings of one-run ball in leading Mooreville to a 4-1 win over Saltillo in slow-pitch softball action Saturday.

Mason was able to improve her record in the circle to 3-0, allowing seven hits and stranding six on the base paths. At the plate, she went 2-for-4, reaching base three times and accounting for three of the Lady Troopers’ (3-0) runs.

“Courtney is a good leader for us,” Mooreville skipper Perry Wilburn said. “She wasn’t able to play for us last year, so it’s good to have her back. She steps up when we need someone to get a big hit.”

Saltillo (0-2) had a hard time mustering consecutive hits in first-year head coach Lee Buse’s home debut.

“Mooreville sets the standard for slow-pitch and fast-pitch softball in this area,” Buse said. “We have to beat teams like Mooreville to get the respect we are looking for. When we played them over there, we hit the ball but couldn’t make plays. Tonight, we made plays but couldn’t hit the ball. We’re right there, but we have to find a happy medium.”

Mooreville wasted no time in building its lead with a run in the first inning courtesy of a pair of Saltillo errors. Mason slapped a two-out single to right-center, and Shelby Jackson plated courtesy runner Bethany Cochran on a hard-hit fly ball to center field that slipped out of Anna Jones’ glove.

The Troopers threatened to bust the game wide open in the fifth with five of the six batters reaching base by singles, fielder’s choice or walks. However, only one of those runners was able to cross the plate as Kristen Kelly pushed the lead to 4-0 on a two-out Saltillo throwing error.

“We played good defense, but we didn’t hit the ball as good as we should have, had a hard time with timely hits,” Wilburn added. “We are real young with no returning starters from last year’s team. They’re starting to play well together.”

Mooreville escaped the fourth inning despite allowing the first two runners to advance into scoring position. Lindsay Richardson singled to left-center and advanced to third on an errant throw on Savanah Stanton’s fielder’s choice. Stanton moved to second on the error. However, Mason forced a groundout to the right side of the infield and two flyouts to left-center to keep the Lady Tigers scoreless.

“Every time we got a break, we didn’t capitalize,” Buse said. “When you only give up four runs, you have to win the ball game.”

In the sixth inning, Stanton was able to get the Lady Tigers on the board with a two-out double off the wall in left to plate Richardson. Nicole Keith led off the inning by reaching on an error, but Ashley Dodson was the victim of a head’s up play by first baseman Anna Christian, who was able to double-up Dodson trying to advance to second on a wild throw from shortstop Carrie Pannell.

Betsy Kingsley was 2-for-3 at the plate for Mooreville, scoring a run after reaching on a third-inning double. For the Lady Tigers, Stanton was 2-for-2 and reached safely in all three at-bats, while Richardson finished the game 2-for-3. Ashton Patterson suffered the loss despite only allowing three earned runs and eight hits, dropping her record to 0-2.