Wayne County 8U softball team goes 1-1 on Day 2 of Southeast Regional

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on July 20, 2012 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

WINTERVILLE -- Just a few hours after a mercy-rule loss, Wayne County's 8-Under softball team regained its composure Thursday evening.

Three players cranked out four hits apiece in a lopsided, mercy-rule triumph over Andalusia (Ala.) in the final South Division pool game for both teams in the 2012 Babe Ruth Softball Southeast Regional.

Wayne County (11-1 overall) played Oviedo (Fla.) at 11 this morning and Creeks (Fla.) at 3 p.m. in the six-team, double-elimination portion of the tournament.

"I got real ugly, real quick. We did hit the ball and granted they didn't play as good of defense," Wayne County coach TJ Smothers said after the much-needed, confidence-building win over Andalusia.

Mackenzie Amodeo, Kaitlyn Smith and Tinsley Moore each batted 4-for-4 on the night.

The offensive attack was a stark contrast from earlier in the day.

Shenandoah (Va.) exploded for 10 first-inning runs and rolled to an 18-1 victory. The game was halted after 3 1/2 innings due to the mercy rule.

"I don't know what happened against Shenandoah," Smothers said. "They're a decent team. We could have played better, to be honest with you. I was talking to their coach after the game and he said that's the best they've hit the ball since they've been a team.

"It was just one of those games and I hope it's far behind us. I think we've got a lot of ball left to play, so we'll see."

Wayne County managed just five hits -- two by Amodeo and one each by Alyssa Smothers, Ellie Jones and Charlie Montgomery. Montgomery had the lone RBI.

Shenandoah recorded outs on eight infield balls and two infield pop-ups. Wayne County struck out twice.