By Brad Greer

Even though they only won one game in the Dizzy Dean North State softball tournament held at Trussell Park over the weekend, the Batesville Diamonds 12 and under All-Star team made things exciting to say the least.

The All-Stars began the four-day tournament with a bang by scoring seven runs in the last two innings to take a 9-7 come-from-behind win over Hernando Thursday afternoon. Batesville advanced to a second round winners’ bracket contest Friday afternoon where they dropped a 9-3 decision to Pontotoc before being eliminated from the tournament with a 12-9 loss to Winona Friday night.

In their exciting win over Hernando, Batesville trailed 5-2 in the top of the fifth, before the bats came alive, by scoring three runs after two outs to tie the game at five.

Kimberly Gregg got the rally started with a one-out single. After Morgan Parker struck out, Morgan Booth and Chloe Morgan reached on a pair of errors before Aubrianna Craven delivered a single to drive in both runners.

Hernando regained the lead in the bottom half of the frame with a pair of runs to take a 7-5 advantage heading into the final inning. Hailey Rickard drew a one-out walk before Sydney Morgan’s ground out left Batesville one out away from defeat. Addie Scipper kept the inning alive by reaching on an error that scored Rickard from second to make the score 7-6. Scipper would then score on a wild pitch to tie the contest at seven.

Gregg then followed with a walk before Parker and Booth added back-to-back singles to give Batesville the lead at 9-7.Parker, who got the pitching win in relief of Taylor Utz, sat down Hernando in order in the bottom of the sixth to end the game.

Batesville then fell into the losers’ bracket with the loss to a strong Pontotoc squad. Chloe Morgan, Booth and Gregg singled to record the only Batesville hits in the game as Pontotoc jumped out to a 5-0 first-inning lead then cruised the rest of the way to advance to the winners’ bracket final.

Sierra Fewell’s RBI single and a pair of errors in the top of the first gave Batesville a 3-0 lead over Winona in an elimination game Friday night. Winona then took the lead with five runs in the bottom of the second before Batesville tied the game at five with a pair of runs in the top of the third.

Winona answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to regain the lead, 8-5, before things went haywire in the top of the fourth. Batesville plated five runs to seemingly take a 10-8 lead, but after the inning was complete, officials ruled that a Batesville player batted out of turn in the lineup, thus taking away two runs to leave the game tied.

Winona regained the lead yet again in the bottom of the fourth on an unearned run before Rickard’s RBI single in the top of the fifth scored Caitlin Seay to tie the game at nine.

Winona then took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth with one swing of the bat as Anna Lott drilled a three-run inside-the-park home run for the final margin of victory.

Fewell led Batesville at the plate with two singles while Parker, Sydney Morgan, Scipper, Rickard and Terri Tidwell added singles.