New Brockton Belles on verge of district championship

By Jeremy Wise

Published: July 8, 2008

Two blowout wins have put the New Brockton Belles close to winning the District 6 Tournament title.

The two wins have put New Brockton in the championship game Wednesday, where they await the winner of Tuesday’s Greenville-Covington County game.

Last year, New Brockton lost its first two district tournament games after rallying past Enterprise twice in sub-district.

This year, the Belles have not allowed that to happen again after repeating the rally past Enterprise.

It has not come without a little adversity.

In the first game with host Greenville, New Brockton was in a close game when Emily Smith injured her ankle.

New Brockton Belles manager Jody Stuckey substituted for Smith, but he said he did not specify it was due to injury. If he had specified it was due to injury, Smith would not be allowed into the game.

Later in the game, Stuckey said he tried to substitute Smith back in, but she was not allowed to play because the substitution was deemed by injury.

“I didn’t say I removed her because of injury,” Stuckey said. “I was making a normal substitution. Saturday was an adventure, but (the girls) stepped up. They rallied around her.”

After giving up three unearned runs in the first, New Brockton rallied, putting the game away with a huge sixth inning.

Heather Hendrix took the win, striking out 10. All five runs surrendered were unearned.

The win Saturday propelled New Brockton to a game with Covington County, which ended 10-0 by mercy rule.

Holloway pitched the entire contest, allowing few baserunners.

“She was like a machine,” Greathouse said.

Greathouse also said the team’s offense “pounded the ball” and the defense made no errors in the game.

“Everybody on the team’s bats were productive,” Stuckey said of the Belles’ performance in the tournament.

Stuckey said last year’s experience in the District 6 tournament has propelled this team in this year’s tournament.

“Besides experience, they got mentally tougher,” he said. “They are a great group of kids.

The championship game is set for 6 p.m. tonight in Greenville. If New Brockton loses the first contest, they will play an “if necessary” game at 8 p.m.

Kinston Angels survive loser’s bracket contests

Some teams play better when their backs are against the wall.

The Kinston Angels could be considered one of those.

In sub-district play, the host Angels lost their first game but battled back to win the title.

Now they are following the same format in their District 6 tournament in Greenville.

Kinston played Ozark in an elimination game last night.

“We’re not playing as well as we did in Kinston,” said Kevin Archie, Kinston Angels head coach. “I’m hoping they’re saving it up for (Tuesday).”

With a win, they will face Opp tonight. A loss would eliminate the team.

Kinston opened the tournament with a 7-4 loss to Opp, but responded with a 4-1 victory over Slocomb and a 10-3 win over Greenville.

In the win over Slocomb, Kelli Mack pitched the entire contest.

“She did a good job in limiting them,” Archie said.

Breanne Biddle and Destiny Harrison combined to hold Greenville to three runs.