BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Bradford High School’s softball team had its win streak end at two games after a 5-1 loss at Suwannee on April 24.
The Tornadoes (7-9) scored first. Rylie Blankenship led off the top of the first with a single and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kirsten Hodges. A Masey Padgett single scored her.
Suwannee tied the score in the second and then scored a run in the third to take the lead.
Blankenship went 3 for 4, but the rest of the team combined for four hits. She also got the start in the circle, giving up three earned runs (five total) and eight hits through 5.2 innings.
Bradford’s two-game win streak began with a 10-0 victory over visiting Hawthorne on April 20.
Hodges and Addyson Hinds, who went 2 for 3 and 2 for 4, respectively, each hit an RBI single in the first. In the second inning, Hinds hit a two-run double, while Hodges hit a run-scoring single. Hinds also scored a run in the inning on a passed ball.
Blankenship, who went 4 for 4, hit an RBI triple in the third. Hinds, Hodges and Padgett each drove in a run in the inning as well.
Three pitchers combined to give up two hits. Blankenship started, allowing one hit and no walks through two innings. Kegan Yowell allowed one hit in 2.1 innings, while Kolee Lemire struck out both batters she faced.
Five batters had at least two RBI each in the Tornadoes’ 16-6, five-inning win over host Buchholz on April 21.
Bradford trailed 6-0 before scoring four runs in the third. The Tornadoes loaded the bases on singles by Yowell, Blankenship and Hinds. Takeirra Bakken and Padgett each hit a two-run single.
The Tornadoes tied the score in the fourth, with Bakken drawing a bases-loaded walk and Hodges driving in a run on a ground ball.
Bradford loaded the bases in the fifth when Blankenship and Ambery Wynn hit singles and Yowell drew a walk. Hinds, who went 4 for 4, then cleared the bases with a double, putting the Tornadoes up 9-6.
The Tornadoes scored 10 runs in all in the fifth. Blankenship, who went 4 for 5, hit a bases-loaded triple, while Summer Sutton drove in two runs on a single. Bakken, who went 2 for 4, hit an RBI double, while Yowell drew a bases-loaded walk.
Yowell pitched four innings of relief, allowing no runs, three hits and one walk.
Bradford will host Bishop Snyder on Tuesday, April 25, at 7 p.m. and will travel to play Baker County on Thursday, April 27, at 6:30 p.m.
The Tornadoes will then play in the District 3-3A tournament, which is being hosted by Keystone Heights. Quarterfinal games are scheduled for 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Monday, May 1, followed by semifinal games at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2. The championship game is scheduled for Thursday, May 4, at 6 p.m.
Seeding and matchups weren’t known by deadline.
