Comparing Friday’s District 5-A high school softball final to the old fable about the tortoise and the hare, Silverdale Baptist Academy best resembled the hare. The difference was, this time the hare got up and still won.
The Lady Seahawks, who hosted the game that was rained out at Warner Park on Thursday, were one out away from ending the game in five innings by the 10-run mercy rule. That didn’t happen, but they did go on to a 10-1 victory against Arts & Sciences.
Silverdale (34-3) will host Sale Creek in one of Monday’s Region 3 semifinals at 5 p.m. Arts & Sciences (12-12) will play at District 6 champion Marion County at 6 EDT.
SBA coach Tim Couch said that while getting to the state tournament is a team goal, winning the district tournament is important along the way. Also, district champions get to play at home in region finals, although the Lady Seahawks dropped a 5-4 decision to Sale Creek after winning their district last season.
“I think mentally these girls are a lot tougher,” Couch said. “We’ve played a tough schedule, and we’ve come back to win some ballgames – some big ballgames.”
Silverdale got off to a quick start against CSAS with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Savannah Turner singled starting the home half of the second, moved up on a sacrifice bunt and made it a five-run lead when she came home on an error on a play in which she stole third. Then Lindsey Newell’s three-run homer capped a five-run fourth that pushed the lead to 10-0.
Meanwhile, Silverdale right-hander Shelby Duggard was busy throwing a no-hitter through four innings, and she started the fifth with one of her 10 strikeouts.
But Taryl Whiteside dropped a hit just inside the left-field line and advanced to second on a bunt. Lexie Meyners, who came on as a relief pitcher in the fourth for the Lady Patriots, singled sharply through the middle to spoil the shutout and extend the game.
“She pitched great,” Couch said of Duggard, whose three-hitter included two walks. “She’s unbeaten on the season at 13-0. We have the luxury of having three good pitchers this year. All of them are very competitive. She’s not had too many bad games all season.”
Meyners pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing one hit and hitting one batter. She did not give up a walk in relief of starter Lulu Benn and did not have a strikeout.
“We were just trying to catch them off balance,” CSAS coach Michelle Meyners said of her decision to start Benn, who had faced the Lady Seahawks once this season while her daughter had faced them twice. “We went four innings with Lulu last time before it all fell apart. It just got too far too quick. We just didn’t hit the ball. We’ve got to work on that by Monday.”
Newell, Taylor Moran and Ali Birchfield were each 2-for-3 with two runs scored for SBA. Newell had a run-scoring double in the first. Moran doubled twice, driving in a run in the first, and Birchfield singled in two in the fourth.
Couch said taking a 10-run lead against a team the Lady Seahawks were playing, and ended up defeating, for a fourth time may have led to a little complacency in the late innings.
“I think we just got a little flat,” Couch said.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.