By JORDON SEMIEN/For the Reporter

TARRANT—In their last exhibition game before midseason tournament play, the Yellow Jackets hit the road to face off with the Wildcats of Tarrant in a non-area matchup. The hostile territory did little to slow down the visitors as the Yellow Jackets won the game, 5-1.

Fair weather and clear skies set the scene for the matchup as Vincent turned to its eighth-grade ace Makalla Odom to the mound to face off with Tarrant’s senior star Diamonique Williams. The Jackets went on the attack early in the game, getting their first run off a Destanie Howard RBI single, bringing in Jameia White from second for a 1-0 lead.

Tarrant answered in the bottom of the frame with Shanna Richardson’s steal of home on a wild pitch from Odom to tie the game at 1-1. Odom found her groove to get out of the inning on three strikeouts. Vincent threatened again in the top of the second as Williams faced off with White, but this time came away with the moral victory in a bases loaded strikeout.

Both aces kept their pace and focus through the bulk of the game, swapping strikeouts and base hits and taking their dueling pitching displays deep into the fifth inning. Vincent’s late game aggressive offense paid off on an Ashlynn Melton RBI single to bring in White after her lead off triple.

Melton proceeded to steal both second and third before Howard drove her in on an RBI single. Howard then stole second base, before being pushed to third on an Odom standup double; Howard was driven in by Bailey Lindenthaler’s sacrifice bunt for a 4-1 Yellow Jackets lead. Vincent ran their steal total up to 13 in the top of the seventh with White’s steal of home to seal their 5-1 win.

Odom finished her complete game outing with seven strikeouts and no walks, as Williams totaled 11 strikeouts and two walks.

Vincent head coach Ernie Adkins said the team’s playoff potential will rest on the upcoming tournament play.

“We’ve got three pitchers…so all three of them will probably get a chance to throw on Saturday,” he said. “That’s some pretty stiff competition: Montevallo, Jemison, Shelby County. We’ll see, that’ll be a test.”