It was a long weekend for the Tallassee softball team, but it was all worth it with a bid to regionals secured.
The Class 4A Area 5 tournament opened with an 8-4 loss to Montgomery Catholic, but the Tigers were able to match the Knights in hits with 12 each. Although they had success at the plate, the Tigers struggled to muster up runs especially late in the game.
Tallassee did not sit on the loss for long, having to match up against Booker T. Washington soon after. In this game, Tallassee did not even have to swing the bat in a 16-0 win which featured just three hits.
It was a rough day for the Golden Eagles in the pitching department, with the Tigers being the main benefactor to it. The bottom of the first inning featured nine walks, four batters hit by pitches, two errors and all three hits — scoring all 16 runs in the first inning.
The Tigers then returned the next day in a rematch against the Knights, this time with the Tigers winning 9-6. An early seven-run lead ended up being a game-changer with the defense stepping up late in the game to limit the Knight from making a comeback. Cheyann Easterling and Kam Tate showed up big time accounting for six of the nine total hits the Tigers had on the day.
Tallassee then progressed to LAMP, where it felt eerily similar to the matchup against Booker T. Washington — except this time with a little bit more fireworks. In the 17-2 win, Tallassee exploited the LAMP pitchers with its hit selection.
The Tigers accumulated nine hits with Lila Kate Fulgham and Madison Raney finishing with two hits, while also taking advantage of the 11 walks that the Golden Tigers allowed to advance to the championship game.
In the final bout, Tallassee faced off against Prattville Christian Academy, where the Tigers eventually fell 10-7. It was back-and-forth to start with each of the two trading runs through the first two frames. However, it was also where Prattville Christian put itself out in front.
The Tigers finished with seven hits in the championship game, two belonging to Easterling. Marlee Osborne, Reagan Easterwood, Tate, Alli Smith and Fulgham rounded out the hitting totals.
Although Tallassee was unable to come away with the championship title, it still punched its ticket to regionals as the area runner-up.