By REID TUCKER
Walton is sitting pretty with a perfect 7-0 record in District 1-4A softball play after a 4-1 win against longtime rival Marianna, followed by a breeze of a 6-0 victory over non-district foe Ponce de Leon.
The back-to-back wins on April 3 and April 10 are just the most recent feathers in the Lady Braves’ collective cap, as, aside from an early-season 2-1 loss to Crestview and 14-2 blowout against Chapel Hill, Tenn.’s Forrest, the hometown girls have 13 wins to their credit.
Walton’s pitching ace, freshman Hannah Poole, was a force on the mound, posting 10 Ks, two walks and two hits while allowing just one run in her club’s dominant win over the visiting Lady Tigers. Poole and Walton defense were the stars most of the night, but Mara Morse did her level best with a clutch double and a steal of a sprint to home plate in the bottom of the fifth inning to put the Lady Braves ahead by the winning margin. It’s a good thing Walton didn’t give Marianna many chances to steal the spotlight in this article too, since no Lady Tigers lineup was made available and no team roster includes both the players’ names and numbers.
Poole gave a single and a run in the first inning, but her offense wouldn’t go down without a fight after Morse (2-for-4) RBI’d Jamie Lamb on a double to just left of the center fence. Jade Larrick made it to second on an error by the Marianna centerfielder, enabling Morse to round the bags to put the score at 2-1 Walton’s way. Poole kept gunning down the Lady Tigers in order, with just one more hit in the third credited against her, and despite some solid batting, particularly from Sydni Early (2-for-4, a double and single), Walton didn’t add to its lead until the fifth inning.
Early got that single three batters in to the bottom frame, floating a low pop fly over third base, and she made it home after Morse’s second double of the night and a sacrifice out from Larrick. Walton didn’t pad out its 4-1 lead due to leaving two runners stranded in the bottom of the sixth, but Poole’s pitching and a spectacular diving catch from Kelee Mosley kept Marianna from mounting a comeback in the seventh.
The Monday game against PDL was even more of a non-issue for Poole, who amassed 14 strikeouts in her one-hitter victory over the Lady Pirates, while Walton racked up an equally impressive nine hits off Ponce pitcher Devyn Butorac. The contest was played at a blistering pace, with a full six-and-a-half innings taking no more than 75 minutes from start to finish, though Walton needed some time to get started on offense.
Most of the action came all in a rush in the bottom of the third, when Lamb (2-for-4, two singles) cracked a hard shot right past Butorac’s ear into shallow center followed by another double from Morse (1-for-4) for the first run scored of the evening. Poole herself got a single to score Morse from third after a fielding error put her in scoring position, and Poole crossed home plate on a massive triple from Larrick to make the score 3-0 Walton. The Lady Braves went ahead 5-0 that inning thanks to a Mosley RBI single and Kiki Bogart’s double near the end of the order.
Though Walton remained in control for the remaining three-and-a-half innings, Ponce did an admirable job on defense to keep the Lady Braves from scoring further. Had two Ks in the bottom of the fifth to hastily retire the side, and Kace Weavers finally cracked Poole’s code and reached on a single to shallow left field in the top of the sixth, but she didn’t get any farther than first. Lamb and Early each got another hit in the bottom of the inning, but they both ended up stranded thanks to a nice double play by the PDL infield to put out Morse, though her fielder’s choice out did enable Lamb to score the winning run.
