The Cornersville Lady Bulldogs (10-8) narrowly escaped an upset bid by Culleoka on Wednesday afternoon, as they rallied to defeat the Lady Warriors 4-3 at Richland High School to advance to the loser's bracket final of the District 11-A tournament.

Having won the last 14 meetings against Culleoka, Cornersville held a 2-0 lead through the first five innings of play, but the Lady Warriors pushed across three runs in the top of the sixth to pull ahead 3-2.

The Lady Bulldogs, however, regained their composure and tallied two runs in the bottom half of the sixth to seize a 4-3 advantage before holding the Lady Warriors scoreless in the top of the seventh to claim their 15th straight win over Culleoka.

Struggle

After outscoring the Lady Warriors 22-4 in their two regular season encounters, Cornersville scuffled at the plate for much of Wednesday's contest and mustered just six hits against Culleoka starting pitcher Mariah Delk.

Seniors Makayla Campbell (1 RBI) and Kaitlyn Rogers accounted for much of the Lady Bulldogs' offensive output, as they both tallied two hits and combined to scored three runs. Starting pitcher Taylor Wolaver (1 RBI) and Miranda Cooksey each notched a hit for Cornersville as well.

"Makayla and Kaitlyn are the two best hitters on the team and helped turn two double plays. They really stepped up for us when we needed them," said Lady Bulldog coach Eric Crabtree. "I'm glad to see that we responded. We didn't hang our heads and didn't quit when we fell behind."

Wolaver went the distance in the circle to pick up her ninth win of the year and yielded eight hits and three walks in seven innings of work while recording seven strikeouts.

Niki Lee (1 RBI), Delk, and Kayla Dale each had two hits to pace the Lady Warriors at the plate.

Early score

Wolaver worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the first inning with the help of a 4-3 double play before Cornersville tallied a run in the bottom half of the frame to grab a 1-0 lead. After reaching base on an infield single, Cooksey advanced all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt by MandiLynn Calahan prior to scoring on a Campbell sacrifice fly.

Culleoka had a chance to get on the board in the top of the third after putting runners on second and third with two outs, but Wolaver retired Maranda Hardison on a groundout to escape the jam.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Bulldogs stretched their lead to 2-0 when Campbell raced home on a shallow fly ball by Coble after singling, stealing second, and advancing to third on a Rogers infield single.

The Lady Warriors left runners on the corners in the top of the fifth, but crossed home plate three times in the top of the sixth thanks to a RBI bloop single by Niki Lee and a Haileigh Shumake two-run single to claim a 3-2 advantage.

Winning response

Cornersville, though, mounted an immediate response and plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. Campbell led off the inning by lacing a single into left field before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Rogers and a Culleoka error, while Rogers reached first base on the play. After Campbell scored on a Coble sacrifice bunt, Wolaver drove in Rogers with a RBI infield single to put the Lady Bulldogs on top.

Wolaver then retired the Lady Warriors in order in the top of the seventh to preserve the victory for Cornersville.

The Lady Bulldogs would be eliminated from the tournament later in the day with an 11-1 loss to second seeded Columbia Academy in the loser's bracket final.