Chambliss goes deep for Bob Jones
MADISON- Erin Chambliss showed a glimpse of what she is capable of Wednesday afternoon when she drilled a pitch from Buckhorn’s Kaylee Hawkins deep over the fence in left field. The blow in the bottom of the seventh wasn’t enough as Buckhorn, the reigning state 7A softball champions, won 9-2 in Bob Jones’ area home opener.
Hawkins pitched the complete game and got the win. Emma Jarrett pitched all seven innings for Bob Jones. The big blow for Buckhorn was a three-run home run by Laura Harbin in the sixth. Morgan Nowakowski hit a line drive home run to right also for Buckhorn.
“If we don’t make the errors in the fourth inning its 1-1 and we pitch a lot different to Laura Harbin,” Bob Jones coach Whitney Deaver said after the game. “Emma made the pitches to get the outs, we just didn’t back her up. We have to cut down on walks and she knows that.
We had some players step up and play well today. Peyton (Ward), this is her first year in the outfield, made one of the best plays I’ve seen all year and she hit the ball solid. Erin had a great game we just didn’t put it together. When they do, good things will happen.”
During spring break Bob Jones went 7-1 in games at Gulf Shores in tournament play.
“Going to Gulf Shores was good. We won some games and had some off the field fun but now we have to get our minds focused on area play. We didn’t do that today. Buckhorn is a great team and they hit the ball solid.”
Deaver is still searching for the right combination in the outfield but most of the infield positions appear set with Chambliss at third, Bailey Tatum at second, Heather Phillips at short, Taylor Weddington at first and freshman Aubrie Lisenby behind the plate.
Peyton Ward is getting a lot of playing time in left and had 2 good catches in the fifth inning. Rylee Snyder and Quicilla Rashidah also got the start in the outfield.
Bob Jones will host James Clemens on Tuesday March 27 at 4:30.
“The Bob Jones James Clemens rivalry is pretty intense,” Deaver said. “They all know each other and they get really pumped up for that game. We are 0-2 in area and I don’t care who it is we need to win an area game and be 1-2 after that game.”
Last year Bob Jones defeated James Clemens at home for their only area win of the year.
