JON JOHNSON
jjohnson@dothaneagle.com

The Wallace Lady Govs finished the regular season on a high note Saturday by taking the second game of a home doubleheader 8-2 against Bishop State after dropping the opener 7-4.
Wallace heads to the ACCC Tournament in Alabaster beginning next Thursday after finishing third in the division behind Central Alabama, which is first, and then Bishop State. The top six teams in the conference make the state tourney.

Wallace has played well late in the season, which included winning 12 straight before dropping two at Bishop State on Thursday and then the first game of Saturday's doubleheader.
Coach David Dews believes his team can be competitive in the tournament if it accomplishes certain things.

"I think if we're able to be efficient on defense," Dews said. "I feel like we can score runs, but being able to have pitching control and defensive controls on teams – reduce the score. For me in tournaments, reduce the score … handle your situations; control the counts … those type of things equate to high-success rate.

"Those are the things that we're still growing into, I guess, a little bit. Just try to make some explosive plays when you get a chance, but you just try to stay steady at it."
After dropping the doubleheader opener against Bishop, the Lady Gove broke a 2-2 tie in the second game by scoring five runs while sending 11 players to the plate in the third inning and coasted the rest of the way.

In the big inning, Elly Castle led off with a single and stole second. Sadie Hanks then followed with an RBI single into center field and E.B. Barefield followed with a single to left field.
Erin Curry drove in Hanks with a line drive single to make it 4-2 and Averi Laird followed with a double to right field to bring in two more runs.

The final run of the inning came when Castle walked with the bases loaded in stretching the lead to 7-2. Wallace added an insurance run in the fifth on another bases-loaded walk.
Katlyn Conner got the win in the circle, scattering eight hits.

In the first game, Bishop scored a run in the top of the first inning, but Wallace answered with two in the bottom of the first when Barefield ripped a single into left field to score two.
Wallace went up 3-1 in the second after Aimee Senn reached on an error, advanced to third on a double by Lana Carpenter and scored on a groundout off the bat of Libby Buchanan.

But Bishop would tie it with single runs in the fifth and sixth and then take the lead with four runs in the seventh against relief pitcher Hannah Buchan, who replaced starter Ella Houston to begin the inning.

Dews was overall pleased with the pitching of his two starters.

"I thought Katlyn threw really well," Dews said. "I really hated to pull out Ella Houston late in the first game, but her back was giving her some issues and we need her for the tournament, so I didn't want to take any chances.

"She wanted to finish, but I thought that would probably be better to be on the safe side. Overall, I like the way we are playing … we just have to execute a little better in the tournament."