By Erik Harris, sports editor
OXFORD — Two-out rallies made the difference for Springville on Friday morning in the first round of the Class 6A state softball tournament.
The Tigers (37-10) shoved in six of their runs with two outs on, junior Makalyn Kyser smacked two home runs, senior Reagan Cornelius pitched four-plus shutout innings of relief and Springville started up its tournament run with a 10-3 victory over Saraland.
After the Spartans jumped out front with three runs in the top of the first, Kyser and company rebounded with 10 unanswered to stretch things out of reach. The East Central Regional champions pushed two across in the bottom of the first, one in the third, four in the fourth and three more in the sixth.
Kyser’s first shot — a solo job to left — evened things up at 3-3 in the third. She capped her outing with a two-run homer in the sixth that put Springville out front 9-3. She now has 12 home runs and 50 RBIs on the season.
Catcher Tatum Bartlett and first baseman Bella Bullington added two RBIs apiece for the Tigers, who stretch their current winning streak to 10 games. Up next will be a tilt with No. 1 Athens in the winner’s bracket at 12:30 p.m.
The Spartans came out swinging to grab a 3-0 lead in the top of the first after Gracie Dees and Holly Parmelee took turns bopping RBIs off Bullington, who covered 2 ⅓ innings in her start. She finished with two strikeouts, one walk and three earned runs before handing it over to Cornelius (20-5, 2.48 ERA) in the third.
The senior lefty would go on to record her 20th win of the season with nine strikeouts and no walks issued.