Telegraph Staff Writer
Hannah McFarland hit an RBI triple in the top of the eighth as the Bradford High School softball team defeated host Suwannee 6-5 on March 4.
The Tornadoes’ Riley Blankenship, who went 3 for 4, hit a one-out single into center field before McFarland, who was 2 for 4, hit what would prove to be the game winner.
Suwannee went three up and three down in the bottom of the eighth against relief pitcher Taylor Reddish, who gave up no runs on one hit and no walks in two innings.
Bradford (5-1) trailed 2-0 before scoring three runs in the fourth inning. Cassidy Spratlin’s two-run double gave the Tornadoes a 3-2 lead.
Reddish and Allie Funderburk, who went 3 for 5 and 2 for 3, respectively, each drove in a run as part of a two-run fifth, but the Bulldogs would tie the score with a two-out, three-run homer in the sixth.
The Tornadoes outhit Suwannee 14-9. Takeirra Bakken had two hits in five at-bats.
Bakken had a big game the previous night, hitting two home runs in Bradford’s 17-5, six-inning win at Interlachen on March 3.
Bradford went up 3-1, with Bakken hitting a two-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the third. The Tornadoes scored four runs in the top of the fourth to go up 7-1. Reddish and Funderburk each drove in a run before Macey Padgett, who had a total of four RBI, plated two with a triple.
Interlachen answered with four runs of its own in the bottom of the inning, but Bradford scored seven in the fifth and three in the sixth.
The fifth inning included RBI singles by McFarland, Reddish and Padgett, while Padgett drove in her fourth run of the night with a double in the sixth.
Padgett finished 5 for 5, while Bakken, who was walked twice after her second home run, went 2 for 2 with three RBI.
Reddish and Blankenship went 3 for 5 and 2 for 4, respectively, with Reddish finishing with two RBI. Funderburk went 2 for 3 with an RBI.
Bradford also got one RBI each from Spratlin, Makayla Moore and Amber Wynn.
In the circle, Blankenship, Spratlin and Kiersten Hodges combined to give up six hits, with Spratlin pitching a shutout over the final 2.1 innings.
The Tornadoes return to action on Monday, March 14, when they host Columbia at 7 p.m. Bradford then travels to play Williston on Tuesday, March 15, at 7 p.m.
