Marengo Maverick snags win in final fall outing

Madison Ford, Mary Creigh Smith, Tayler Pipkins, Emily Lovette, Wessie Jacobs, Kyla Brown, Haylee Rowley, Wezzie Hughes, Lizzie Cannon, Santa Claus and Caroline Larkin.
Madison Ford, Mary Creigh Smith, Tayler Pipkins, Emily Lovette, Wessie Jacobs, Kyla Brown, Haylee Rowley, Wezzie Hughes, Lizzie Cannon, Santa Claus and Caroline Larkin.

The Marengo Maverick, a 12 and under travel softball team based in Demopolis, closed its fall season with a fifth place finish in the Red Storm/Cleats Christmas fundraiser tournament in Trussville Saturday.

Depsite losing its two pool play games, the Maverick opened elimination play seeded eighth of nine teams.
Marengo battled from behind twice in the elimination game, eventually taking the lead for good in the bottom of the final inning.

“We were in a similar game a couple months ago and we couldn’t pull off a win,” says Jason Cannon, one of the team’s coaches. “In this game, we had to come back on them twice. Our girls have grown a lot in the last two months, and it showed in that game.”

Down 4-2 in the second inning, Weezie Hughes ripped a leadoff single and would eventually score on a passed ball to cut the Wild Thang lead to one.

Maverick pitcher Lizzie Cannon, backed up by solid defense, held Wild Thang scoreless in the third and Marengo tied the game when Emily Lovette ripped a triple to score Wessie Jacobs, who reached on a single. Lovette would later score on a wild pitch to give the Maverick its first lead, 4-3.

Wild Thang plated three runs in the next inning and Marengo headed into the bottom of the fourth inning needing a big rally as the 75 minute time limit expired.

Haylee Rowley led off the inning getting hit by a pitch and Mary Creigh Smith followed with a walk. A flyout by Madison Ford and a grounder back to the pitcher off the bat of Kyla Brown, who was subbing for regular right fielder Stevani Foster, moved the runners to scoring position.

Larkin drove home Rowley and Smith with a double to left center, and Tayler Pipkins knocked Larkin home to tie the game with a single deep to center.

Wessie Jacobs walked as Pipkins, the potential winning run, stole her way to third.

Lovette ripped a two-out shot between third and short to score Pipkins and give Marengo its first win of the night.

The Maverick were eliminated from the tournament in the next game by eventual champions, the Birmingham Mustangs, whom Marengo played in its first game.

“In every tournament we’ve played, whether there has been four teams there or 14, we have played the eventual champion and we’ve played them twice in our last two,” Cannon added. “We wanted to play some tough competition this fall, and we certainly did that.”

Lovette led Marengo batters, going 5-for-6 on the night. Larkin followed at 2-for-5. All Maverick batters put the ball in play and reached base across the team’s four games. Mary Creigh Smith led the team in walks, drawing three in five plate appearances.

Rowley led the pitching corps, facing 47 batters and throwing two strikeouts.

Cannon followed, facing 42 batters, throwing four strikeouts and notching the win.