Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
MAN McKinlee Cline drove in four runs, Zoey Jackson went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and the Man Lady Hillbillies opened Class A Region IV Section 1 tournament with a 15-3 win over the Van Lady Bulldogs Monday night at the Man High School Softball Complex.
Man’s Shyanna Frye and Peyton Lusk each had one hit and two RBIs. Melody Rozzell scored three runs and picked up the win in the circle for Lady Hillbillies after allowing three runs on three hits while striking out seven and walking three in three innings.
Lusk allowed one hit, struck out two and walked one in two scoreless innings.
Layla Albright suffered the loss for Van after allowing 15 runs on 11 hits in four innings. She walked seven and struck out three.
Albright, Calli Brown and Hailey Tackett each had one hit for fifth-seeded Van and Jayden Lambert drove in one run for the Lady Bulldogs, who trailed Man 4-3 heading to the bottom of the third inning.
The Lady Hillbillies scored three runs in the third and put the game away with an eight-run fourth inning.
Kylie Blevins and Cline each drew bases loaded walks in the bottom of the third and Jackson had a run-scoring single to give Man a 7-3 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Kaleigh Hicks started the scoring with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-3. Jackson produced a run-scoring single and Cline drove in two runs with a single of her own making it 11-3.
The Lady Hillbillies made it 13-3 when Lusk tripled home two more runs and Frye’s two-run single capped the eight-run fourth.
Lusk allowed a single to Tackett and a walk to Albright to start the fifth, but striking out Lambert for the first out and getting Kylee Lovejoy to line into a double play to end it.
Fourth-seeded Man was scheduled to face top-seeded Buffalo Tuesday afternoon in the winner’s bracket of the sectional tournament while Van will face the loser of second-seeded Sherman and third-seeded Tug Valley on Thursday.
Man jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first when Cline laid down a bunt to score Blevins. The Lady Bulldogs tied it at 1 in the second inning when Lovejoy reached base safely on an error allowing Lambert to score the tying run.
Man plated three runs in the second when Rozzell reached on an error allowing Frye to score and Jackson’s two-run single brought home Rozzell and Hicks for a 4-1 lead.
Van trimmed the deficit to one run with a pair of runs in the third as Brown scored on an error and Braylee Daniels scored on Lambert’s RBI groundout.
Jacklynn Barnett had two hits including a double and scored three runs while Payton Nelson had two hits and Hicks had one hit, drove in a run and scored twice for the Lady Hillbillies.
Van fell to 6-20 with the loss while Man, who started the season 0-5 but has won eight of its last 10, improved to 8-7 with the win.
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