The Dawson County Lady Tiger softball team traveled to Gainesville for the 9th Annual Lanier Point Invitational last Friday and Saturday. Games were halted after the Saturday morning session because of rain and will be made up this Saturday.
Dawson won its opening game in dramatic fashion on Friday against West Hall. The Lady Tigers were trailing in the final inning 3-2 before staging a comeback.
Sydney Crumbley led off the inning by drawing a walk. With Crumbley on first, Dawson hitter Gracie Hovan lined a triple that drove in a run and tied the score at 3-3.
Pitcher Jenna Abbott was up next. Abbott lined a single that drove in Hovan and gave Dawson the 4-3 victory.
“Jenna’s hit was clutch,” said Head Coach Jimmy Pruett. “She has been getting timely hits and is throwing the ball real well.”
Abbott came on in relief for starting pitcher Cheyenne Bennett in the sixth inning. Abbott picked up the win.
Saturday’s game was played early in the morning under dark skies. The Lady Tigers got in the first game at 8 a.m. against White County.
This time Dawson couldn’t get a clutch hit and lost to the Lady Warriors 3-2 in five innings, there is a 75-minute time limit for each game.
White County jumped out to a quick start after getting two runs in the first and a single run in the second inning off of Abbott.
“We couldn’t put anything together. We had a runner at second with one out in the last inning and couldn’t get her home,” Pruett said.
Before the Lady Tigers could play their remaining pool game against East Hall the skies opened up. It rained hard for half an hour before the tournament directors rescheduled the games for the upcoming weekend.
“There are a couple of fields that don’t drain very well. I’m glad the tournament director decided to go ahead and cancel instead of our kids waiting around all day,” said Pruett.
Game times for Saturday had not been released as of press time.
There are 16 teams in the tournament, which include Hart County, Holy Innocents, Hebron Christian, Union County, Habersham Central, Fannin County, Chestatee, Rabun County, Gainesville, North Hall, Wesleyan and Gilmer County.
Each team will finish pool play on Saturday. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the Gold Bracket. The remaining two teams will advance to the Silver Bracket.
The Lady Tigers played Pickens County on Tuesday in Jasper. Scores weren’t available at press time.