Lady Airedales fall to Cyclones in 5A-West softball opener, 8-5

By Kevin Taylor

Alma Schools 

The Alma Lady Airedales dug themselves an early hole and fell to the Russellville Lady Cyclones, 8-5, in the 5A-West opener for both teams. 

Russellville’s Abigail Blythe was staked to an early 5-0 cushion and earned the win. 

Alma’s Harper Jernigan was the losing pitcher, allowing seven earned runs and 10 hits and striking out seven. 

Annie Davis, Laramie Carr, and Leah Wilson had two hits a piece for the Lady Airedales, 2-2, 0-1. 

Senior Cali Frazier drove in three runs for the Lady Airedales. Brooklyn Neighbors, Camryn Waters, and Jernigan had doubles for the Airedales. 

Through four games, Jernigan and Waters are hitting .583 and .500 through the first four games. Carr is hitting .462, and Payton Morris is batting .417. 

Alma travels to Elkins on Thursday and returns home Monday to play Huntsville. 

Baseball 

Logan English and Easton Daily had four hits apiece to help power the Airedales to a 13-3 win over Ozark Hillbillies Tuesday. 

English was 4-for-4 with three RBIs. Daily went 4-for-5. Senior Michael Taylor smacked a two-run homer, his first of the season. 

Camden Curd added three hits. 

Senior Piercen Howell worked the first four innings, allowing one earned run. The right-hander improved his season record to 1-1. 

Braden Green pitched two scoreless innings for the Airedales (2-3). 

Soccer 

The Alma Airedales’ soccer teams opened 5A-West play Tuesday against Russellville. 

The Lady Cyclones handed Alma (2-1) its first loss of the season in a 7-0 decision. The Airedales’ boys lost 6-0 to drop to 1-1-1. 

Freshmen Zane Warford and Jared Castillo scored goals in the junior varsity game. Alma lost 5-2.