Junior Addie Rackley hit a grand slam in Buford’s 9-4 win over Dacula on Tuesday, August 20, at the Buford Softball Complex in the Lady Wolves’ region opener. Rackley’s grand slam came in the first inning after Dacula intentionally walked fellow junior Caroline Stanton, loading the bases for Rackley to clear out with a home run, putting the Lady Wolves up 4-0.
Buford added a fifth run in the second inning off of a sac fly by senior Izzy Rettiger. In the third inning, Rackley hit her second home run of the night with a solo shot to center field and the Lady Wolves scored two additional runs that inning to give Buford an 8-0 advantage over Dacula.
The Lady Falcons turned a few hits into scoring three runs after Buford had a couple of errors in the top of the fourth inning. Buford answered back with another run in their half of the fourth inning as Rackley once again was the one who drove in a run to end the fourth inning with the Lady Wolves still in the lead 9-3.
Buford helped Dacula add one more run in the fifth inning after a walk and an error was combined with a single hit. That was as far as the Lady Falcons could get to Buford after they were unsuccessful in the sixth and seventh innings of scoring runs to end the game with the Lady Wolves up 9-4.
Rackley (2-0) had a solid performance on the mound for Buford. She pitched a complete game where she had four unearned runs while striking out six and walking two.
Offensively, Rackley was the clear leader of the game. She went 2-for-3 with a grand slam home run, a solo home run and a sac fly where she earned seven RBIs.
Other Buford offensive standouts included junior Summer Castorri (2-for-4, triple, double), sophomore Janie Goldin (3-for-3, one run scored, one stolen base) and sophomore Ella Pierce Hensley (1-for-2, double, one RBI, one run scored).
Buford’s season record improved to 4-0 and 1-0 in Region 8-6A. They will travel to play Mill Creek on Thursday, August 22 at 5:55 p.m.
