SOFTBALL: Sand Rock rallies past Spring Garden

The Latest Local News from the Cherokee County Herald

SAND ROCK – In the early innings Friday, Sand Rock softball coach Josh Bates felt a little deja vu against Spring Garden.

In their previous two meetings in the Cherokee County tournament earlier this season, Spring Garden jumped out to an early advantage and put the pressure on the Lady Wildcats. The result was a pair of Lady Panther wins on their way to their first county championship.

On Friday, Spring Garden leadoff hitter Jessica Smart homered to left in the first inning. The Lady Panthers added another unearned run off pitcher Courtney Williams to take a two-run lead, but Sand Rock battled back to take the lead with a three-run fifth and hold on for an 8-5 victory.

“We came in the bottom half of the first and I challenged them, ‘You can lay down or you can battle,'” Bates said. “They battled. We kept hitting the ball and putting it in play. I had kids hustling down the base lines. We’ve talked about that and worked on that. Those are things we’ve got to have to be successful from here on out, and we did them well tonight.”

As Bates mentioned, the Lady Wildcats (15-12) cut their deficit in half in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Brylie St. Clair was hit by a Kerstin Bryant pitch. St. Clair stole second and scored on a sharply-hit ball to third off the bat of starting pitcher Courtney Williams.

Class 1A, No. 2 Spring Garden (12-8) got that run back to go up 3-1 on back-to-back singles by Bryant and shortstop Payton McGinnis in the top of the second.

Still trailing by a pair of runs in the fourth, Bates decided to lift Williams in favor of Magen Rich. The move proved successful, as Rich held the Lady Panthers scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings, giving Sand Rock’s offense time to catch up.

“We needed to get Courtney some work, and I also thought we might get them a little off balance,” Bates said. “I knew we were going to change speeds on them, and that ended up being the difference in the ball game. They didn’t adjust real well to the change of the speed. They still put it in play, but we ended up playing better defense.”

Spring Garden coach Ann Welsh felt the change in pitchers was a key to the game as well.

“It made a difference,” Welsh said. “She (Rich) seemed to have a little bit more speed, and it took us a little while to get caught up to her. We started hitting her, but it was too late in the ball game.”

Sand Rock scored single runs in the third and fourth to tie the game three. In the third, catcher Madison McCullough belted a triple to right field. She scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Williams. Left fielder Katelyn Hanson tripled to center an inning later and scored on an infield single by second baseman Paige Norris.

The Lady Wildcats took the lead in the fifth by sending eight batters to the plate against Bryant. Sand Rock loaded the bases with two outs. Pinch hitter Erin Langley drove in a run with an infield single. St. Clair followed with a two-run single to right to put the Lady Wildcats in front 6-3.

But the Lady Panthers proved to have some fight left in them. They scored two runs in the top of the sixth off Rich.

Center fielder Hayley Williams led off the inning with a double to center. She later scored on a wild pitch. Catcher Kalista Free delivered an infield single. Katie Williams came in to pinch run for Free and later scored on another wild pitch, trimming Sand Rock’s lead to 6-5.

However, Sand Rock got those two runs right back in the bottom half of the sixth thanks to three Lady Panther errors.

“Our defense is something I’ve had total confidence in this year. We just don’t make mistakes, but today we just fell apart,” Welsh said. “That’s something we can’t do. We just didn’t play like we should have tonight. We made too many defensive errors.”

Spring Garden had one last chance in the top of the seventh. McGinnis led off with an infield single, but was later caught stealing. Williams delivered a single to center with two outs, but was left stranded as left fielder AJ Broome popped out to right to end the game.

Hanson led the Lady Wildcats at the plate with a triple and a single. Norris and first baseman Emily Langley also had a pair of hits apiece. McCullough tripled. St. Clair contributed a two-run single and was hit by a pitch. Right fielder Madison Allen added a hit.

Williams and McGinnis both had a pair of hits for the Lady Panthers. Smart homered and walked. Bryant, Free, Payton Traffanstedt and Kenzie Micha contributed a hit each.

Rich earned the win in the circle after working four innings. She gave up two runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Bryant suffered the loss for the Lady Panthers after working six innings.

Both teams play in the Cherokee Invitational on Saturday. Sand Rock opens against Cherokee County at 10 a.m. on Field 3 at the Centre Softball Complex. Spring Garden battles Hokes Bluff on Field 4, also at 10 a.m.

Source: Cherokee County Herald

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