The South Greene softball team stayed aggressive on the base path and played close to perfect defense on Tuesday night to get its postseason started with a 15-0 win over West Greene in the District 1-2A Tournament semifinals.
“We came out and we were aggressive. We were looking to hit, we found good pitches to hit and we drove the ball well. And then we were aggressive on the base path. We took advantage of what we were given and never let up,” South Greene assistant coach Joshua Arrowood said.
With the win South Greene advances to Thursday’s district championship game and earns a spot in next week’s Region 1-2A Tournament. The loss brings an end to West Greene’s season with a 12-14 record. South Greene will host the championship game on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against the winner of Chuckey-Doak and Hampton.
“With a win tonight we are guaranteed two more games,” Arrowood said. “We get to come back Thursday looking for another win and a district championship. A win Thursday also means we get to host in the first round of the region, and that is always important. You want to be playing at home this time of year.”
On defense South Greene allowed just five Lady Buffaloes to reach base and only one of them reached scoring position. Catcher Paisley Brobeck was throwing darts from behind the plate, and with the help of Madison Hensley she caught two of them stealing. Two more were eliminated on fielder’s choices.
Kortnei Bailey tossed a no-hitter in the three-inning contest. She struck out three, walked two and hit one batter.
“Kortnei was locating her pitches well,” Arrowood said. “She walked the leadoff batter to start the game, but after that she threw a lot of strikes and let her defense work behind her. That was actually her second no-hitter in a row.”
On offense South Greene started fast and scored four runs in the first inning. Whitney Reaves was hit by a pitch and went to third when Bailey hit the ball to hot corner. The throw to first pulled first baseman Chloie Reams off the bag and when the Lady Buffs held onto the ball Reaves took off for the dish and scored the first run of the night.
Brobeck hit a single to the shortstop that was stopped in the gap. Bailey never quit running on the play and beat the tag at the plate for a 2-0 lead. Saddie Knowles knocked in one on a ground out and Macy Roberts fired an RBI single into centerfield for a 4-0 advantage.
“We’ve talked a lot this year about being aggressive,” Arrowood said. “A lot of time they want to go station to station, but we have tried to instill the idea of putting pressure on the other team and making them make plays. That’s what we did tonight. We got on and we tried to take that next base if they gave us the opportunity.”
The Lady Rebels blew the game wide open with nine runs in the second inning. Reaves led off with a line drive to centerfield and Bailey followed it by smacking a shot into left field. Neveah Davis sent them both home when she dropped a single into shallow left field.
Knowles came up with an RBI single, but was caught off the bag at first. Regan Arrowood split the left-center gap with a line drive and Roberts sent a hot shot to the right side. Second baseman Aubree Everett stuck her glove out to knock the ball down but could not make a play in time.
Reaves hit into an error that allowed South Greene to stretch its lead to 9-0, and then a pair of bases-loaded walks plated two more runs.
Davis knocked in her third and fourth runs of the side when she hit a groundball to the shortstop and Paisley Brobeck beat the throw to second to make the runs count.
The game ended in the third inning with one out after the lead reached 15-0. Arrowood led off with a double and scored on a bases-loaded walk. Reaves ended the night with a ground out to the right side that allowed Robets to score the final run.
At the plate South Greene earned 11 hits from seven different batters. Roberts went 3-for-3 with an RBI. Davis was 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Arrowood went 2-for-2 with a double and two runs scored.
“It’s great to see everyone contributing. The top of our lineup has scored a lot of runs for us, but tonight all of our lineup was getting on. We had RBI opportunities all up and down the lineup,” Arrowood said.
Abby Cluesman took the loss for West Greene. In one inning she struck out one, walked one and allowed five hits.
