West Side Christian, Hopwood-Oak Grove pick up church wins

By Wes Holtsclaw
star staff
wholtsclaw@starhq.com

  The Hopwood-Oak Grove Christian team had a hard time finding a hit in its first game against West Side Christian. Things were different in its follow-up contest versus Central Church of Christ.
  Hopwood-Oak Grove had three big frames of offense to help it pull away with a four-inning 28-10 victory in Women's Church Softball League play at the Black Bottomsoftball field.
  West Side won the first game against the squad, 5-4 in seven innings.
  Game One
  West Side 5
  Hopwood-Oak Grove 4
  West Side got on the board early and held on late, defensively, in the win.
  The squad got on the board in the first inning after Maggie Hermann singled and scored on a Jerri Beth Lyons hit.
  Hopwood evened things up in the fourth inning when Marti Holt doubled and scored on an Elane Wash hit.
  In the fifth, the edge went back to West Side when Maggie Herman advanced on a fielder's choice and grabbed a run off a Sheri Aubrey single.
  Tina Holsclaw stepped up with her first of two home runs on the day after Holt took a bag on an error. Holsclaw drove one over the left field fence for Hopwood-Oak Grove to take a 3-2 lead.
  West Side came right back with Lindsey Buck advancing on an error and Aubrey with a walk. Lyons came through with a big two-run triple and scored on a Donna Johnson single to take a 5-3 lead.
  Oak Grove mustered up one run after an Ann Freeman single and RBI hit from Brenda Townsend, but a fielder's choice out gave the game to West Side.
  Aubrey, Johnson and Michelle Collins led West Side with two hits apiece, while Hopwood-Oak Grove didn't have a multi-hit player in their first game.
  Game Two
  Hopwood-Oak Grove 28
  Central Church of Christ 10
  The first two offensive frames for Hopwood-Oak Grove was simply a 'hit-a-thon,' but a short third inning let Central back into it before their opponents sealed the deal with a eight-run fourth inning.
  Hopwood-Oak Grove had nine hits in the first inning, led by a two-run homer and three-run triple from Holsclaw, while Townsend had three RBIs on a triple and single to lead the team to its 13 first frame runs.
  The team held off Central in the first and second innings and resumed the scoring in their second offensive frame.
  Marti Holt and Elane Walsh each had a two-run single to lead the team to a 20-0 lead.
  Central bounced back in the third with a three-run double from Angie Cornett and a two-run single from Donna Hughes to make it 20-7.
  Hopwood found its offense again in the fourth inning with doubles from Holsclaw and Karen Norman, with Karen Pinkston, Holt and Marsha Ross each having an RBI hit.
  Sarah Hendrix, Kitty Hendrix and Hughes each had a run in the next frame for Central, but it was halted by strong defense, which led the game to its early end.
  Hughes, Marissa Potter and Cornett each had two hits for Central, while Holsclaw, Holt, Pinkston, Wash, Freeman and Ross all had three hits apiece for Hopwood-Oak Grove.