The Cornersville Middle School Lady Bulldogs began the 2013 softball campaign with a bang, as they went on the road and defeated Columbia Academy 7-2 on Friday afternoon.

CA held a 1-0 lead at the end of the first inning, but Cornersville controlled the game from that point on and outscored Columbia Academy 7-1 over the final six frames to claim the five-run victory.

Lady Bulldog starting pitcher Kirsten Young went the distance in the circle to pick up the win and racked up 10 strikeouts in seven innings of work, while allowing two unearned runs on eight hits and no walks.

"Kirsten came out and pitched phenomenally. CA got some hits, but she worked though it and stuck with what worked. She mainly used her fastball and her changeup and did a good job of hitting her spots," said Cornersville coach Eric Crabtree. "We actually played better than I thought we would. We haven't had much practice time on the dirt, but the girls gelled and were communicating out on the field."

CMS, meanwhile, cranked out nine hits against two Columbia Academy hurlers to go along with three walks.

Young helped her own cause by going 3-for-4 with a triple and a RBI, while Courtney Darnell went 2-for-4 with two triples, 3 RBI, and a run scored. Hannah Singleton, Madison Hopkins, Emma Mitchell, and Mikaela King recorded one hit apiece as well with Singleton, Hopkins, and Mitchell each driving in one run.

"We hit the ball well. We've been working on our hitting a lot. I've been trying to get each girl between 200 and 250 swings a day in the cage or on the batting tee and it paid off today," said Crabtree.

CA starting pitcher Corrine Shapiro suffered the loss, allowing six runs over two and one-third innings on six hits and two walks. Annabelle Carnahan had three hits to lead Columbia Academy at the plate.

The Lady Bulldogs left two runners in scoring position in the top of the first inning, before CA scored a run in the bottom half of the frame on a Cornersville error and a RBI groundout by Shapiro to grab a 1-0 lead.

CMS quickly counterpunched in the top of the second and pushed across three runs in the frame with the help of a Darnell RBI triple, a RBI double by Singleton, and a Young RBI single to seize a 3-1 advantage.

The Lady Bulldogs hung up another crooked number in the top of the third and crossed home plate three more times in the inning to stretch their lead to 6-1. After drawing a one-out walk, Aliyah Holder advanced to second on a passed ball before moving to third on a single by King. Darnell then plated both runners with a two-run triple prior to coming home on a Mitchell RBI groundout.

In the top of the sixth, Cornersville tacked on another run thanks to a RBI single by Hopkins to open up a 7-1 cushion after loading the bases with one out on a leadoff single by Mitchell, a Singleton walk, and a bunt single by Young.

Columbia Academy then tallied a run in the bottom of the seventh on a RBI single by Shapiro for the 7-2 final.