ATHENS SPLITS A PAIR OF GAMES AT CENTRAL COLUMBIA TOURNAMENT

By: Tim Birney  /  April 24, 2021

BLOOMSBURG — Athens bounced back from an opening-round loss to Selinsgrove to top Milton in the consolation game of the Central Columbia Tournament here Saturday in non-league softball action.

Selinsgrove 14, Athens 9
Selinsgrove’s bats came alive late in a come-from-behind, 14-9, win over Athens in the opening round of the Central Columbia Tournament.

“Defensively we were terrible, and our base-running was even worse,” said Athens coach Mickey Farrell. “We didn’t deserve to win.

“The good thing is these are things we can correct,” added Farrell.

Trailing 1-0, the Lady Wildcats put together four consecutive two-out hits in the bottom of the second inning.

Mallory Mummert walked to lead off the second inning, and moved to second on a grounder off the bat of Addy Repsher.

With two outs, Carlie Simpson stroked an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1. Ashlyn VanFleet ripped an RBI double to give Athens the lead, then scored on an RBI single by Macie Coyle to make it 3-1.

Harley Sullivan capped the rally with an RBI single to plate Coyle.

Selinsgrove trimmed the deficit to 4-2 with a run in the top of the third inning, but Athens answered with two runs in the home half on a two-RBI single by Megan Collins.

The Lady Seals scored two runs in the top of the fourth to trim the lead to 6-4, but an RBI single by Mummert in the bottom of the fourth gave Athens a 7-4 lead.

Selinsgrove tied the game with three runs in the fifth inning, and took an 11-7 lead with four runs in the sixth inning.

Athens battled back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth in a rally that featured a double by Audrey Hatch, and an RBI single by Mummert, but Selinsgrove put the game away with three runs in the seventh inning.

Collins had two hits and two RBI, while Hatch doubled and singled, and scored two runs, and Coyle singled twice, scored one run, and drove in one run to lead Athens’ 12-hit attack.

Mummert singled, scored three runs, and knocked in one run for the Lady Wildcats, while VanFleet doubled, scored one run, and drove in one run, Simpson singled, scored one run, and drove in one run, Sullivan and Repsher each singled and drove in one run, and Aliyah Butler singled and scored one run.

Athens 14, Milton 4
Athens banged out 17 hits, and Aliyah Butler turned in a strong pitching performance to lead Athens to a 14-4 six-inning win over Milton in the consolation game of the Central Columbia Tournament.

“We started slow, then came on strong,” said Farrell. “Again, we were shaky on defense, but we hit well and took advantage of a lot of (Milton’s) mistakes.”

The Lady Wildcats took an early lead with three runs in the first inning in a rally featured an RBI single by Addy Repsher and and RBI double by Ashlyn VanFleet.

Athens added two more runs in the second inning, then pulled away with three runs in the fifth innings, and five runs in the sixth inning to invoke the 10-run “mercy” rule.

Audrey Hatch had four hits, including a solo home run in the fourth inning, scored three runs, and drove in one run, while Harley Sullivan singled twice, scored three runs, and had two RBI, and Coyle singled twice and scored two runs.

Athens, now 9-2, hosts Williamson Monday.