Dalton, Christian Heritage reach softball Elite Eight; Ridgeland falls

Prep Sports
Prep Sports

With four freshmen in the lineup, Dalton High School softball coach Stacy Parker is accustomed to a few ups and downs, but there has been one constant with the Lady Catamounts and it was there again Thursday in a Class AAAAA state tournament elimination game.

Dalton (23-11) qualified for the Elite Eight for the first time in program history with a 3-2 win at Savannah's Richmond Hill after falling behind early.

"It takes a little spark to ignite these girls, but once you do they smell blood," Parker said. "These are the most unselfish group of girls I've ever seen. They don't care who gets the hit - they just want to win. I don't know what's going to happen in Columbus, but I can't wait to find out."

The big hit Thursday came from the same player as Wednesday's game-two win, freshman Brooke Belflower. Trailing 2-0, Dalton got a pair of walks to start the bottom of the fourth and Belflower followed with a three-run homer.

It was one just two hits for the Lady Catamounts, who were shut down in the first three innings by Richmond Hill pitcher Sam Mault. However, the Wildcats lifted Mault for Morgan Hunter to start the fourth and Dalton quickly took advantage.

"They started Mauk, their normal No. 1 pitcher, and we really didn't get to her through the first three innings," Parker said. "They brought her other senior in and we got the two walks and the homer. They were trying to throw us off, but it didn't work."

Once with the lead, Dalton senior pitcher Alli Swinford did the rest. She retired the final six Wildcat batters and finished with 10 strikeouts, giving her 27 in the three games.

* In Class AAAA, Ridgeland lost at Wayne County, 5-1. The Lady Panthers (21-14) managed just two hits off Wayne ace Autumn Starling and fell behind on Haley Dennison's two-run homer in the first inning.

Defensive miscues and Starling's unusual motion combined to do in the visitors.

"She's got a weird windup and she's got pretty good velocity," Ridgeland coach Richie Wood said. "They just made play after play on us, and we made three errors that killed us. I hate it for my two seniors to end this way. We're still looking to have that signature season, and we'll keep fighting."

Ridgeland actually had the tying run at bat in the seventh after two walks and a hit, but Starling was able to get Morgan Crawford to ground out to end the game.

* In Class A private play, Christian Heritage needed eight innings to pull out a 5-4 win over Mount Vernon Presbyterian to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.

Senior Julia McDonald had four of the Lady Lions' nine hits, including the tying RBI in the seventh inning. Ashlyn Clements hit a two-run homer in the third inning and doubled to lead off the seventh to set up McDonald's game-tying single.

In the eighth, Adain Coulter, on second via international tiebreaker rules, took third on a passed ball and scored on Erin Leonard's bunt single. Leonard, who took over pitching in the third inning, struck out the last two batters to seal the win. After coming on in the third with the bases loaded and one out, she retired 14 consecutive batters.

"That was the defining moment of the game in the third when they could have broken it open," Christian Heritage coach Mike Leonard said. "They got two runs but Erin shut them down. The girls could have quit today when they got down, but they refused to do it. This is such a big win for our program."

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.

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