Thrilling Opening Two Days of Softball Championship
Tournament Bracket and More (LINK)
DUNCAN, S.C. – The Cinderella story continues for the eighth-seed Emmanuel as the Lions advanced in the winners' bracket with a win over Barton on Day Two of the 2021 Conference Carolinas Softball Championship at Tyger River Park.
Emmanuel will face the two-seed Mount Olive for a spot in the Championship game. Mount Olive needed extra innings against North Greenville to stay in the winner’s bracket.
In the elimination bracket, Belmont Abbey took down the top-seed Erskine before picking up a run-rule victory over Barton to keep their championship dreams alive. King slugged their way past Southern Wesleyan and held off North Greenville to advance.
With the threat of inclement weather in the area, games originally scheduled for Saturday have been moved back a day with play resuming on Sunday.
FRIDAY WINNERS' BRACKET GAMES
#8 Emmanuel 5, #5 Barton 2
Emmanuel’s Mackensie Hogan broke the deadlock with a two-out bases clearing double in the top of the seventh inning to continue on in the winner’s bracket.
The Lions would strike first with a run in the first inning. Barton would rally in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-1 lead on a two-run double by Mikayla Rose.
Barton would hold the lead until the seventh inning when Noelle Petty produced a double to even the score and Mackensie Hogan doubled home three runs with two outs. The Bulldogs brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh as a fly out ended the rally.
#2 Mount Olive 5, #6 North Greenville 4 – eight innings
It took extra innings as Mount Olive advanced to the semifinals with a 5-4 win. The Trojans used a double by Cana Shrock to start off the eighth inning and scored the eventual game-winning run on an error. North Greenville scored a run in the bottom of the eighth but sacrificed two outs to do so.
Both teams scored three runs in the third inning as Mount Olive’s Kylie Emanuele and North Greenville’s Taylor Koon registered two RBI singles in the inning.
FRIDAY ELIMINATION BRACKET GAMES
#3 Belmont Abbey 3, #1 Erskine 1
The elimination bracket featured a pitchers' duel to start as neither side could scratch home a run in the early going as both pitchers worked out of jams.
Belmont Abbey would strike first in the top of the fifth as a miscue with two outs allowed the Crusaders to plate the opening salvo of the contest.
Second Team All-Conference selection Shi Cain evened the score in the bottom of the fifth with a two out triple. Cain led the Fleet with two of the five Erskine hits.
The Crusaders used another two out rally picking up three hits to plate a pair of runs in the sixth for the 3-1 advantage. Alannah Browne allowed one hit in the final two innings to hold off any Flying Fleet comeback.
#4 King 8, #7 Southern Wesleyan 1
Southern Wesleyan struck first with a run in the bottom of the second inning before King’s bats came alive as Meagan Puckett and Kinsley Thompson hit home runs to spark the Tornado offense.
The Tornado hit solo shots in the fourth and fifth inning to give King the lead and never looked back as Nikole Counts limited Southern Wesleyan to one run off four hits and picked up six strikeouts.
King added insurance runs in the latter innings on doubles by Azlee Sells and Samantha Helms.
#3 Belmont Abbey 10, #5 Barton 2 – five innings
Belmont Abbey used a pair of four run frames to eliminate Barton in a 10-2 run-rule victory.
The Crusaders would score in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. Barton used an error to knot the game at two in the fourth before Belmont Abbey posted four runs in the bottom of the inning and four more in the fifth.
Melissa Neyhouse went 4-4 with three RBI, while teammate Hailey Gass went 3-4 with three RBI for Belmont Abbey.
#4 King 10, #6 North Greenville 9
A late rally by North Greenville was thwarted in the seventh inning by King to advance in the elimination bracket as the Tornado picked up the 10-9 slugfest.
North Greenville started off the contest scoring in the first two innings to lead 3-0. King would respond with a pair of four run frames in the third and fourth innings to take an 8-3 advantage. NGU answered with a two run fifth and a four run sixth to offset the single tally by King in the sixth.
Opening Day - Thursday, April 22
#5 Barton 14 | #4 King 2
Rilee Jones, Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year, led the Bulldogs to an upset win over King posting 10 strikeouts and allowing only three hits as Barton took advantage of eight errors by the Tornado to cruise to a 14-2 victory in the opening game of the championship.
The Bulldogs opened the scoring in the third with three runs before King joined the scoring in the fourth with a single tally. Barton answered with three more in the fifth and another in the sixth to lead 7-1. The Tornado posted their final tally in the sixth before Barton capitalized on the errors to plate seven runs in the seventh to take the victory.
Mikayla Rose led Barton with two hits and two RBI. Second Team All-Conference selection Meagan Puckett, led King going 2-3 at the plate with two extra base hits.
#6 North Greenville 14, #3 Belmont Abbey 0 (six innings)
North Greenville won the opening battle of the Crusaders as NGU rattled off 19 hits against No. 3 seed Belmont Abbey. Claire Gilmore went a perfect 5-5 at the plate for NGU, while Makayla Brackett went 2-3 with a team-leading four RBI.
All-Conference Second Team pitcher Jaelin Griffin, was given run support before she stepped into the circle as Griffin tossed six shutout innings allowing three hits and struck out six for North Greenville.
#8 Emmanuel 8, #1 Erskine 7
The biggest upset of the opening round came in the #8 vs #1 game as Emmanuel rallied in the top of the seventh inning to take down the top-seeded Erskine Flying Fleet.
Emmanuel struck first to open the contest with a two run double by Mackensie Hogan. Erskine would respond with a four run frame in the bottom of the first inning and added to their lead with a run in the third and fourth innings to lead 6-2. The Lions would claw their way back with a run in the fifth and five runs in the seventh. Isabelle Petty delivered the game winning run after swiping home.
Erskine had the tying and winning run in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh before Emmanuel’s Kaitlin Pickens notched a strikeout to upset the Flying Fleet.
#2 Mount Olive 15, #7 Southern Wesleyan 1 (five innings)
Mount Olive took advantage of seven errors by Southern Wesleyan as the Trojans picked up a 15-1 run-rule victory to cap off the opening day of the championship. Madison Morgan and Hannah Burress led the Trojans with three RBI each. Burress hit a three-run home run in the third inning.
Southern Wesleyan would notch their only tally of the contest in the top of the first inning before UMO answered with two in the bottom of the first and a pair of six run innings in the second and third.