Hillcrest captures Azalea softball title

Hillcrest 12, Brookland-Cayce 1

SUMMERVILLE — The Hillcrest Rams, using pitching depth and relentless hitting, rolled through an otherwise competitive field to win the Azalea Invitational softball tournament with a 12-1 five-inning victory over Brookland-Cayce in the championship game on Wednesday at the Jerry Blackwell Sports Complex in Summerville.

Hillcrest (11-3) was one of six Classs AAAA teams ranked in the top 10 in a tournament field which also included some of the top-ranked AAA and AA teams in the state.

However, the Rams, who started the season 2-3, played like world-beaters in sweeping its four pool games on Monday and Tuesday and then finishing with five victories on Wednesday.

"Our games here, we were hitting, hitting away," Rams coach Jamie Mason said. "They just really stepped up and played these with enthusiasm."

On Wednesday, the Rams outscored their opponents by a combined 52-5 with three 10-run rule wins.

Mason said another key to the tournament was having three pitchers to go to — Krissy Kendrick, Courtney Roberts and tournament most valuable player Laura Jerozski, who pitched a four-hitter against Brookland-Cayce. In the title game, Rachel Hopper's two-run homer to left field led Hillcrest's four-run first inning.