DAPHNE, Ala. – Daphne’s Lady Trojans scored once in the fourth inning, twice in the fifth and improved to 2-0 (18-6-1 overall) in Class 6A, Area 3 softball Wednesday with a 3-1 home win over Baldwin County. The Lady Tigers slipped to 0-3 with the loss in the five-team area race and 9-6 overall. 

 Junior left hander Sierah Beeler held Tiger batters to a pair of doubles in route to her sixth win (6-2) while her offense came up with 11 hits. She finished with five strike outs and two walks. Her counterpart Madison Crenshaw limited the damage with solid defensive support behind her to strand eight DHS runners and scored the sole Baldwin County run. Jessica Calloway had both doubles for BCHS but was left on each time. Aspyn Godwin and Kimberly Small each singled for DHS.

“Sierah pitched well for us tonight," said Daphne head coach L.T. Yelding. "She struggled a little bit early with her control but she found her groove."

The Trojans took the 1-0 lead for Beeler in their half of the fourth when Baylee Lucassen singled, moved to second on a sacrifice by Merideth Mackin, reached third on a hit by Beeler and scored on an error. Daphne added two more in the fifth when Kaitlyn  Blubaugh singled, Ashlynn Kimbro tripled in Blubaugh and Lucassen delivered an insurance RBI single to score Kimbro.

The Tigers answered in the top of the sixth when Crenshaw reached on an error, moved to third on a fielder’s choice hit into by Ta’La Brown and scored on a fielder's choice by Brittany Peacock for the final score.

BCHS coach Anthony Cox said his offense needs to capitalize on more scoring opportunities.

"We had opportunities but didn’t get the hits when we had people in scoring position," he said. “We couldn't get the big hit. We hit the ball hard at times and we had opportunities, especially in the first and second innings. But couldn't get a run across. It's hard to beat a good team like Daphne when you can't score runs."

 Yelding added that his players are playing well enough to win but need to start with an aggressive approach earlier then maintain pressure throughout the game.

 "Right now,  we're playing well in every aspect of the game. We’ve won 18 games. Nine of our last 10. But the thing with us is, we have to learn to come out at the beginning of each game and be more intense. I have a great bunch of girls, but we need to develop an instinct to put people away. We need to come out, jump ahead of teams and then keep pouring it on. I feel like if we start doing that, there aren't a lot of teams that can shut us down."