Woodland takes area runner up

The Woodland Lady Bobcats couldn’t overtake Ranburne to win the area crown, but a couple of wins over Lineville gave Woodland a spot in the North-Central regionals this Friday.

Woodland began its area tournament run with a 10-0 romp over the Lineville Lady Aggies last Friday.

Woodland put up one run in the first inning, but the third inning was when the Lady Bobcats broke free, scoring seven runs.

Woodland added one more run in the fourth and one in the sixth to insure the win.

Jessica Smith was the winning pitcher, striking out nine and walking three in seven innings of work.

Leading the way offensively for Woodland was Ashley Kanning with a 1-for-2 performance with two RBI. Ashley Arrington was 1-for-3 with four RBI and Haley Rollins hit a two RBI double.

“We were hitting the ball and playing good defense,” Woodland head coach Karen Ballard said. “And of course, Jessica pitched a very good game.”

Woodland advanced to play Ranburne in the winner’s bracket, but although they kept it close, Ranburne took the 5-3 win.

“We just weren’t hitting the ball like we did against Lineville,” Ballard said.

Ranburne put the first run on the board in the fourth inning and followed with four runs in the fifth inning. Woodland scored three runs in the sixth, but couldn’t come up with the offense to break Ranburne’s lead.

Ashley Burgess was solid on the mound for Woodland, striking out five and walking just two in seven innings.

Offensively, Woodland was led by Katlin Edmondson, going 2-for-3, Rollins going 1-for-3 with one RBI, Smith going 1-for-3 with one RBI and Arrington going 1-for-4 with a double.

Woodland was forced to play Lineville again, which had defeated Randolph County to stay alive in the tournament.

Woodland took out some frustration on Lineville, putting the Lady Aggies out of the tournament with a 15-3 win.

Smith was the winning pitcher with eight strikeouts in seven innings.

Jade Walker was the team’s leader at the plate going 4-for-4 with two RBI. Edmondson was 2-for-3, Rollins was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, Smith was 2-for-4 with two RBI, Kanning was 1-for-4 with two RBI and Shanna Strain was 1-for-3 with two RBI.

“We got back into it and we were hitting the ball again and playing good defense and pitching well,” Ballard said.

Woodland had one more chance at Ranburne, but the Lady Bulldogs were too much for Woodland. Ranburne defeated Woodland 10-0 to win the area.

“We could not hit the ball and Ranburne was hitting so well,” Ballard said. “We didn’t play bad defensively, they just hit the ball and we couldn’t.”

Kanning was 1-for-1, while Rollins, Arrington and Walker were each 1-for-3.

Woodland will play Red Bay in its regional tournament opener in Vestavia Hills Friday at 8 a.m.