By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
MOODY – The Moody Blue Devils softball team had quite the year, leading to the opportunity to host the 2023 5A Area 9 tournament at their home field. They would get a bye in the first round as Saint Clair County and Leeds battled it out. The Saints would beat Leeds to advance and take on Moody for the area championship.
Moody’s Kendall Trimm and Emma Kile.
Photo by: Moody Softball
In the first game between the Saints and Blue Devils, Moody would use a big first inning to take a 6-0 lead into the second inning, which would be scoreless for both teams. Moody would add 2 more runs in the third while Saint Clair would maintain a goose egg on the scoreboard until the top of the third inning where they would get one run across the plate. Not to be outdone, Moody would score 3 more to go into the fifth with a 11-1 lead. The Saints would add another run in the fifth and Moody added 2 to clinch the 13-2 blowout win. Riley Hodges got the start and the win on the mound, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and striking out 4 batters. At the plate, Taylor Rogers, Libby Higgins, Emma Kile, Ryleigh Hodges and Kennedy Hockman all had 2 RBI each. Rogers’ 2 RBI came on a home run in the bottom of the fifth. Higgins also had a home run in the game, hers coming in the fourth inning.
Moody needed just one more win to take home the area championship, taking on the Saints again. This time, Saint Clair would come to battle. Doing their best impression of Moody, the Saints would jump out to a 4-1 lead after one inning of play. The Blue Devils would manage just 1 run in the second and the next two innings would be scoreless by both teams. In the fifth, Saint Clair would score 2 more runs to make it 6-2 Saints heading into the sixth. Saint Clair would blow the doors off by scoring 5 more runs in the sixth inning to make it 11-2 Saints. Moody would get 2 runs across the plate in the seventh, but it would not be enough. The Saints would take home an 11-4 win over the home team and force a third game between the two teams on Thursday. Moody’s Hannah Rutledge would get the start allowing 4 runs on 2 hits. Hodges would enter the game after 1 inning giving up 7 runs on 4 hits and striking out 1 batter. At the plate, Rogers would drive in 2 runs to lead all batters.
In the game that would decide it all, both teams left it all on the field in a hard-fought battle. Saint Clair would draw first blood with a 3-run first inning while Moody could not get a run to the plate. However, the Blue Devil bats would come to life in the second inning, putting 3 runs on the board to tie the game. The Saints would tack on 2 more runs in the bottom of the second, taking a 5-3 lead into the third in what appeared to be an eventual high-scoring game. That would not be the case. The third and fourth would produce no runs for either team and the fifth would only see a single run scored and it would be Moody’s run. That would be the final points of the game as the Saint Clair defense held Moody scoreless for the remainder of the game, wrapping up the area championship with a 5-4 win over the Blue Devils. Hodges would go the distance in the losing effort, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits and striking out 2 batters. Kendall Trimm went 3-4 for the game while Higgins, Kile, Hockman and Lacey Nichols added an RBI each from the plate for Moody.
Moody Head Coach Becky Seymour had this to say about her team’s performance, “I am very proud of the way my girls played. It didn’t end up the way we wanted it to. Hats off to Jessica Hood and her coaching staff at Sain Clair. The girls came prepared and ready and earned the area championship. The work my girls put in to win the regular season and the first win on Wednesday secured our spot in regionals. We will work very hard to stay within ourselves and play Moody softball in Albertville. This time of year is exciting and grueling for athletes. We just have to focus on what we can control.”
The Blue Devils will look to rebound in the regional tournament being held at Albertville High School with their first game being against Scottsboro on Thursday morning at 9:00.
