SKYLINE LADY VIKINGS WIN FORT PAYNE TOURNAMENT

Story By Cinthia Rico

The Lady Vikings hard work paid off as Skyline edged Fort Payne 2-0 to win the Fort Payne softball tourney Saturday night.

Skyline Head Coach Slade Bellomy said they have been a young team for the last couple of years, with a heavy junior presence, and their experience of playing in tournaments against big teams, regardless of the outcome, helps them get better for their postseason.

“We win some games we are not supposed to, and we lose some games we are not supposed to, but in all, playing these upper teams helps us for our postseason drive,” he said.

“The girls, they know what they can do – we tell them they gotta have confidence in themselves – we got confidence in them or we wouldn’t have them out there.”

Skyline’s Olivia Treece took the victory on the mound, allowing no runs on two hits and walking one for two innings. Nevaeh Buchanan threw in relief and sat down six to close out the game for the Vikings.

Of their pitching, Bellomy said with their No. 2 pitcher graduating last year, the team is still looking to fill that spot.

“In the last couple of weekends, these girls have stepped up, whether it be in the No. 2 role or No. 3 role, and they are doing their part – just like tonight, we knew we had to bring our No. 1 out and let the No. 2 or 3 go in and try to close it for us, and it worked out,” he said.

Potts led Skyline with two hits in two at-bats. At the top of the second, Potts scored on a Sage Lewis ground ball for a 1-0 advantage. Treece scored in the top of the fourth on another Lewis hit for a 2-0 score.

Skyline shutout Ider 10-0 during Friday’s opening game. Olivia Treece led the Vikings to victory lasting three and third innings, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out six. Brinna Wilson three two-thirds of an inning in relief.

The Vikings tallied nine hits and recorded six runs in the fourth innings behind Jayla Ross, Eva Gates, Blakely Stucky, Kenzie Manning, and Brook Cloud’s offensive efforts.

On Saturday, the Vikings bested Albertville 6-2 to advance to the championship round.

In the circle, Olivia Treece allowed one hit and one run over five innings, striking out nine and walking one.

The Vikings scattered hits from Ella Dean, Jayla Ross, Audra Bellomy, Treece, Sage Lewis, and Blakely Stucky in the first, second, and fourth innings, pulling away for good in the bottom of the second behind four scoring runs.

“I’ve got a great coaching staff that helps me, and without them, we wouldn’t be where we are right now,” Bellomy said of their overall win. “It’s a very big all-together team effort for our program. We got a lot of supporters, we travel well and we are thankful for that.”