Lady Dolphins lose another tight one to Escambia
BY JASON THOMPSON Gulf Breeze News jason@gulfbreezenews.com

Jason Thompson/Gulf Breeze News Natalie Alverson gets ready for a recent at bat. GBHS hosts Milton Friday.

The Gulf Breeze Lady Dolphin softball team tried to stage a furious seventh inning rally last week at Escambia, only for it to be foiled under the most bizarre of circumstances.

Down 7-2 after six innings, Gulf Breeze scored three runs to pull within two runs with nobody out.

With the tying runs on second and third, Natalie Newell hit a fly ball to right field. The runners both advanced a base to make it a 7-6 game with one out.

But Escambia appealed to third, saying the GBHS runners left early. The umpire agreed for the second out. They then appealed to second and were successful there, too - a gameending triple play - as Escambia won 7-5.

Gulf Breeze took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Natalie Alverson reached on an error before Erin Powell walked. Deannette Zuniga doubled to score Alverson before Kara Brown's two-out single scored Powell.

But the Lady Gators (10-2) answered with three in the bottom of the first on five consecutive base hits and a pop fly. Two of those hits, plus the pop fly, never left the infield.

Gulf Breeze left a runner on in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before their rally in the seventh.

Pinch hitters Lyndsey Wright and Kori Ewens led off the seventh inning with singles. Alverson then tripled to plate them both before Powell reached on an error to score Alverson.

A Zuniga single and a fielding error put runners on second and third, setting the stage for the wacky finish.

The Lady Gators, who have two wins over GBHS this season by a combined three runs, scored one in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth.

Fort Walton Beach 8,

Lady Dolphins 2

Gulf Breeze was held to just two hits as Fort Walton scored three in the first and one in the second to win March 12 in Fort Walton.

Wright reached on an error and scored on Powell's groundout, while Zuniga singled and scored on a single by Aubrey Curington.

Brown allowed nine hits and walked two in the loss, striking out three.

Gulf Breeze will look to get a district win Friday against Milton, who beat the Lady Dolphins by two earlier this season in Milton. Lady Dolphin JV 13,

Escambia JV 3

(five innings)

Anna Schundelmier hit a two-run homer as part of a 3- for-4 day to lead Gulf Breeze's JV past Escambia.

Anndrea Marsh had two hits, with an RBI and a run scored. Mallory Mead and Ginny Coady both scored twice, while Tristan Powers, who had two RBIs and scored three times, threw a one-hitter, while walking only two.

Fort Walton JV 9, Lady

Dolphins 8

GBHS rallied from four runs down to tie it in the top of the fifth, only for the Lady Vikings to score the game-winner in the bottom of the fifth March 12 in Fort Walton.

Catherine Lewis, Marsh, Schundelmier, Tess Waggoner and Coady all had two hits in the loss, with both of Coady's being doubles. Schundelmier had a twobagger for the Lady Dolphins, as Powers struck out six.