Immanuel Baptist snare tournament title

from staff reports

   Immanuel Baptist's softball team squeezed by First Freewill Baptist Thursday night at the final game of the season in the Carter County church softball league with a 13-11 win.
   Immanuel, a second-year team in the league, played through the loser's bracket while winning seven games in a row to come out on top with an 8-1 tournament finish.
   First Freewill had a strong start, taking the lead in the first inning with three hits by the first three batters. They scored all three runs by the end of the inning.
   Immanuel retaliated with two hits by their first two batters, Thomas Guess and Adam Walker.
   First Freewill mirrored the first inning their second time at the plate, scoring three runs again. However, Immanuel dealt a heavy blow to their opponents, scoring six runs in the bottom of the second inning.
   The third inning didn't offer much scoring action, without any runs batted in by either team.
   Immanuel pitcher Dough Hinshaw held off First Freewill for another inning, and in the bottom of the fourth, Immanuel took another big jump ahead, scoring five more runs against another empty inning for First Freewill.
   The last two innings proved to be fruitful for First Freewill, pulling their score of six up to eleven, and pitcher Lance Dugger keeping Immanuel from scoring any more runs.
   However, the defense wasn't enough to win the game, and Immanuel took the tournament trophy.
   Mark Catell, Immanuel's shortstop, took the MVP trophy, batting 4-for-4, including the only home run, in the final game.
   Immanuel beat Hopwood to advance to the championship game against First Freewill, which finished 4-2 in the postseason.