Tennessee team wins tourney
After numerous rain delays and postponements, Wilson Central ended its trip to Alabama with the championship in the 15th annual Huntsville Hospital/Bob Jones Invitational early Sunday morning.
The Tennessee high school team beat Vestavia Hills 2-0 in the championship at the Metro Kiwanis Sportsplex after getting a 2-run homer from Courtney Billington against the Lady Rebels.
Vestavia Hills' Katie Matchen was the defensive most valuable player after helping the Lady Rebels reach the championship bracket final.
In other championship bracket games, Madison Academy fell to Walker 3-2 and Wilson Central beat Decatur 2-0.
The tournament, originally expected to be the largest in the state of Alabama, didn't reach its goal of 60 or more teams after several teams decided to head home before the new brackets were drawn up.
Huntsville finished second in the gold tournament bracket after losing to Ooltewah, Tenn. in the championship.
After rains prevented teams from playing Friday afternoon, the tournament lost several teams that decided not to wait out the weather.
So with a revamped - and abbreviated format - teams returned to the diamonds for the remainder of the tournament. The field was divided into eight different pools.
Madison Academy opened with a pair of wins in the tournament to advance to the gold bracket's single elimination play.
To win its pool bracket, the Lady Mustangs beat Obion County, Tenn. 7-3 and added a 7-1 victory over Spain Park.
Two other Madison teams didn't advance to the tournament's finals bracket after suffering losses in pool play.
Bob Jones played in Pool D and finished 1-1. The Lady Patriots beat Soddy Daisy (Tenn.) 5-1, but lost to Clay-Chalkville 1-0.
Sparkman had a pair of one-run games in the tournament and finished 1-1 in Pool H, beating Tuscaloosa County 1-0 and losing to Mt. Juliet, Tenn. 1-0.
