With an entire morning and all afternoon to think about his ball club’s showdown against Chapel Hill, the Central High School softball coach had a feeling it would be a nail-biter when the pair of sub-region champions met in the Region 4-AAA Tournament later that evening — and it indeed lived up to the billing.
The host No. 6 Lady Lions pushed the game’s lone run across in the bottom of the first inning and used some spectacular defensive play behind hurler Taylor Funk to hang on for the 1-0 victory, clinching home-field advantage for the opening round of the Class AAA state playoffs and putting them one step away from the Region 4-AAA tourney title.
“That’s one that all day long I felt like I had my stomach up in my throat knowing that it was going to be a tough battle,” LeBlanc said.
Central (23-7) now awaits the winner of today’s contest between Chapel Hill and the Rockmart/Haralson County winner from the late game Thursday evening in a 7 p.m. contest. Whoever reaches the finals will have to beat Central twice in the double-elimination format.
After Funk wiggled out of a jam in the top of the first — the Lady Panthers (19-12) stranded runners at second and third — Lady Lion sophomore first baseman Hayley Sims got the rally started in the bottom of the frame with a one-out double. She would come around to score the game’s only run on a two-out single by senior catcher Alison Jiles.
From there, it was a defensive clinic — outside of one little hiccup in the sixth inning — by Central.
Junior outfielder Rebekah Smith made a one-handed, running snag on a liner to left in the fourth, which was followed by a leaping catch by sophomore second baseman Jordyn Scott in the following at-bat to end the inning. In the fifth, it was senior right fielder Shena Chambers making a diving catch on a blooper to rob Chapel Hill of a base knock and sophomore shortstop Aubrey Bennett capped off a strong defensive performance with an over-the-shoulder catch in shallow center field for the final out in the sixth, stranding runners at second and third.
The Lady Panthers had one last shot in the seventh after Caitlin Legrand reached on a one-out single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a passed ball. With two outs, Hallie Rutledge drew a walk and stole second, putting the tying and go-ahead runners in scoring position.
But Funk was able to get the final out with her eighth punchout of the night for the dramatic victory. The sophomore right-hander allowed just four hits and one walk in the complete-game shutout. Her counterpart in the circle, Lady Panther sophomore Darby Demarest, was equally impressive, yielding four hits and three walks with four strikeouts in six innings.
Offensively, Jiles was 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI for Central, while Sims (1-for-3, 2B, run), Cade North (1-for-2) and Scott (1-for-3) accounted for the other three hits. Chapel Hill was led by Hannah Austin (2-for-2), while Kayley Barker (1-for-2) and LeGrand (1-for-3) also had hits.
And after surviving Thursday’s thriller, Central will try to finish the job tonight on its home turf.
“Enjoy this, then get your mind refocused for [Friday] — because it ain’t over. We’d like to do it in one if we can,” LeBlanc said.
In other 4-AAA tournament action from Thursday:
Haralson County 9, Callaway 8 (9 innings): The Rebelettes pulled the stunner of the day in knocking off Callaway to earn a trip to the Class AAA state playoffs.
“It was the best we’ve played all season. They played strong as a team and played together,” HC coach Lisa Warren said.
Freshman hurler Jordan Robinson tossed all nine innings — throwing 145 pitches — and walked just three hitters to earn the win in the circle.
Offensively, Maci Campbell (3-for-4), Kristen Huey (3-for-5), Cassidy Salyers (2-for-3), Savannah McKinzey (2-for-4) and Tara Cobb (2-for-5) all had multiple-hit efforts.
The Rebelettes’ contest against Rockmart late Thursday evening finished past deadline and will be reported in Saturday’s sports section of the Times-Georgian.
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