Pike Liberal Arts School softball team was looking to bounce back from a road loss on Saturday in Dothan against NMA and did exactly that. Behind the arm and bat of Ellie Barron the Patriots defeated rival Fort Dale 12-3.

The first two innings did not start out according to the script. The visiting Eagles scratched out single runs in each of the first two innings and PLAS found themselves trailing entering the bottom of the third 2-0.

The offense then came to life in a big way. Barron belted a key RBI double and Conleigh Gilmore added an RBI single in the frame as the Patriots scored four runs and went up 4-2.

The fourth was also a productive inning for Pike as Lexi Pigott drilled a long double for 2 RBIs and went up by a 6-2 count. PLAS added four big runs in the fifth courtesy of Merla Laviner’s RBI single, Mary Margaret Starling’s two RBI triple and an RBI single for Josie Free. After a Fort Dale run crossed in the sixth to cut the lead to 10-3, Pike answered with a two RBI double by Barron to close out the scoring.

The win was a big one in the eyes of Head Coach Tim Davenport. “ Ellie really did a good job for us tonight. She faced 12 batters in the first two innings but settled down and really pitched well. When she gave up three hits in the sixth, she got us a big strikeout to help us get out of the inning. Our defense came up big also. We only committed one error and that was a good improvement. “

PLAS will be in action again next Monday against SMCA.