The Central Lady Pounders quickly saw they needed to change their approach at the plate in their Region 3-AA softball semifinal Monday. After their first at-bat, the reigning region champs scored in every inning and won 9-2 over visiting Polk County.
“We struggled at first with the bat, but we made some adjustments and that’s when it came around,” said Central coach LeeAnne Shurrette, whose team will host Meigs County in the region final Wednesday at 5:30. “We had some people step up that did some things that caused trouble.”
Center fielder Ciara Belcher’s slap bunt ignited a two-run second inning that seemed to ease any pressure the team might have been feeling. The bunt scored Sarah Walker. Belcher then stole third and scored on Brooke Eller’s groundout.
“Ciara’s slap bunt right there was important,” Shurrette said. “We needed to score right then, and that picked us up. We wanted to make things happen – just put the ball in play. We want to be really aggressive with baserunning, and we want teams to earn every hit they get.”
Central’s 14 hits came in all varieties, including sophomore Hannah Powell’s two-run homer in the sixth. Powell led the onslaught with three hits, three RBIs and two runs scored.