MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Central’s Lady Purple Pounders were playing Thursday in the Class AA high school softball state tournament as a result of some good things they had done since losing their opening game Tuesday. They’re no longer playing because of some not-so good things they did in their losers-bracket semifinal.
Some late errors proved to be Central’s downfall as Gibbs defeated the Lady Pounders 8-5, ending their season.
Central had beaten Westview 2-0 earlier in the day with Sara Walker’s home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Lady Purple Pounders took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth against Gibbs on Jade Stoker’s run-scoring single to left field. The Lady Eagles tied it next inning on Brooke Rhodes’ single, which ended up being misplayed with Rhodes winding up on third base. She then scored the tiebreaking run on an error.
The Lady Pounders mounted a small rally in the bottom of the seventh that included Shelby Willard’s second double of the game and another RBI single by Stoker. However, two Central errors had contributed to Gibbs’ three-run uprising in the top of the inning.