The Stuttgart Lady Ricebirds. (Photo courtesy of Katie Hord)
Five runs in the bottom of the second inning proved to be more than enough for Stuttgart against Southside Batesville as the Ladybirds claimed a 6-2 win. The game was the first of the day in the 4A East Regional and pitted the no. 1 seed Lady Ricebirds against the 4A-3’s no. 4 seed, Southside Batesville.
Emma Banks tossed a complete-game five-hitter in the win, picking up her 20th victory of 2021. Banks also went one out of three at the plate, scoring a run and driving in another.
Stuttgart’s Ladybirds did most of their damage in a five-run second inning. Abby Stratton led the inning off by reaching on an error by first baseman Chloe McCance. That was followed by back-to-back bunt singles from Erin Ludwig and Ashton Ludwig, loading the bases with no outs.