Telegraph Staff Writer
Host Columbia scored all the runs it needed in the first inning in handing the Bradford High School softball team a 9-3 loss in the teams’ regular-season opener on Feb. 20.
The Tigers had three straight hits to start the bottom of the first, including a two-run double. With two outs, they took advantage of a walk, an error, a passed ball and a single to score three more runs and go up 5-0.
It was 8-0 before Bradford got on the board, with Masey Padgett hitting a two-run double in the fifth.
Padgett finished 3 for 4 with two RBI, while Addyson Hinds went 2 for 3. Keegan Yowell had an RBI, while Kallie Yowell hit a triple.
The Tornadoes were coming off a 2-0 performance in a preseason tournament hosted by Jacksonville’s Jackson.
Bradford opened preseason play with a 16-1 win over Bishop Snyder on Feb. 14. The Tornadoes scored two runs in each of the first two innings before scoring 12 in the third to enforce the mercy rule.
Kassady Arnette and Blakeleigh Smith each hit a two-run single in the third inning, while Hinds, who went 2 for 2, hit a two-run single in the second.
Padgett drove in two runs, while the following each drove in one: Tinsley Higginbotham, Madison Highland, Kolee Lemire, Amber Wynn, Kallie Yowell and Keegan Yowell.
Keegan Yowell pitched all three innings, giving up three hits and one walk, while striking out four.
On Feb. 16, Kallie Yowell drove in what would prove to be the winning run in a 7-6 win over Bolles.
The Tornadoes took a 6-2 lead in the third inning, thanks to a two-run homer by Hinds and a two-run double by Keegan Yowell.
Lemire drew a walk to lead off the top of the fourth and eventually scored on a Kallie Yowell single.
Bolles was able to push four runs across in the fifth, but Kallie Yowell entered the game as pitcher to start the bottom of the sixth. She held the Bulldogs to one hit and struck out three of the seven batters she faced.
Keegan Yowell pitched the first five innings.
Hinds finished the game 2 for 2 with three RBI. Keegan Yowell and Kallie Yowell had two and one RBI, respectively, while Kirsten Hodges hit a double.
The Tornadoes travel to play Gainesville on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. and will travel to play Suwannee on Friday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. Bradford plays its first home game on Tuesday, Feb. 28, hosting Buchholz at 7 p.m.
