COLUMBUS — Pierce County will have to wait another year to capture an elusive first state softball title after being ousted Friday at the weather delayed state tournament.
Making their first “Elite 8” appearance since 2022, the 13thseed Lady Bears (24-8), ranked third in the last regular season Top 10 poll, rallied to beat fellow Region 3 member Crisp County (13-14), the 21st seed, 7-5 Thursday, October 30 in a matchup delayed one day.
It was the third victory over the Lady Cougars this year, who entered having won eight of their last 10 games.
Top-ranked Appling County (20-4), the overall No. 1 seed riding a 14-game winning streak, ended PCHS’s seven-game winning streak in the semifinals with a 4-1 victory winning an eighth consecutive game in the matchup dating back to the 2023 season. The Lady Bears had won 14 of their last 15 games with both seven-game winning streaks ended by Appling County.
The win was the third of the season for the Lady Pirates in the matchup. Appling County won its opening game beating secondranked and ninth-seed Cook (265) 3-0 ending the Lady Hornets’ five-game winning streak.
Seventh-seed Pike County ousted the Lady Bears with a 72 victory Friday, October 31 in an elimination game in the losers’ bracket of the double-elimination tournament. PCHS finished the “Elite 8” with a top six finish.
Quarterfinals No. 13 Lady Bears ............7 No. 21 Crisp County .........5
PCHS scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning overcoming a 3-2 deficit and then held on to beat the Lady Cougars.
Olivia Bennett’s (2-for-2) leadoff homer to start the sixth inning, her 12th of the year and fourth in the last three games, evened the score at 3-all. Seven of the first eight Lady Bears’ batters reached in the uprising.
Harper Larson (2-for-4) and Taylor Tomlinson (2-for-4) followed with a single and double respectively. Parker Sinclair’s grounder off an 0-2 pitch was booted allowing Larson to score the go-ahead run.
After Parker’s courtesy runner Sophia White stole second, Carson Sloan (1-for-3) delivered a one-out, firstpitch two-run single upping the PCHS advantage to 6-3.
Following a theft of second by Sloan’s courtesy runner Zoe O’Berry, Lanie Mai (2-for-3) reached on a sacrifice bunt with O’Berry moving to third. Eva Horne (1-for-3) blasted a run-scoring double two pitches later for a 7-3 lead.
Sloan (7 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 5 K, 3 BB, 1 HBP), who needed 137 pitches in the complete game performance, pitched around a single and an error in the bottom of the sixth. After retiring the first two batters in the seventh, a walk and two errors followed plating two runs for Crisp County before the final out was recorded.
Both teams stranded three runners over the first two innings before finally breaking through.
Bennett’s two-out double in the third set up PCHS’s two-run rally. Larson followed two pitches later with a run-scoring double. Tomlinson’s run-scoring single came two pitches later for a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Cougars answered scoring three times in the bottom half of the frame. A leadoff error by PCHS got the inning started.
A one-out walk was followed by consecutive run-scoring singles to tie the score with a throwing error allowing runners to advance to second and third. An ensuing runscoring groundout gave Crisp County a 3-2 lead.
Semifinals No. 1 Appling County.......................................4 No. 13 Lady Bears............................................0
A two-run third inning broke a 1-all tie giving Appling County a lead it would not relinquish in beating the Lady Bears.
After PCHS stranded two runners (walk to Sinclair, Kaylee Figueroa single - 1-for-3) in the second, the Lady Pirates scored on a two-out error in the bottom of the second for a 1-0 lead against Tomlinson (6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 3 K, 3 BB).
The Lady Bears tied the score in the top of the third on Bennett’s (1-for-3) one-out, solo homer, her 13th of the season and fourth straight game with a roundtripper.
A two-out single kept the Appling County inning alive in the home half. After a passed ball moved the runner to second, the Lady Pirates scored on a single for a 2-1 lead. An error on the relay allowed the batter to race around to third. A third consecutive single extended the margin to 3-1.
PCHS would leave seven runners on base over the final four innings. Sinclair reached on a leadoff error in the fourth with Mai getting hit by a two-out pitch.
Bennett walked with one out in the fifth. Sloan drew a two-out walk in the sixth with Mai getting hit by a pitch. Maelee Childers (1-for-3) led off the seventh with a double with O’Berry reaching on a one-out walk.
Appling County added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth getting a leadoff single, a sacrifice bunt and cashing in on a two-out error.
Losers’ Bracket Quarterfinals No. 7 Pike County ............................................7 No. 13 Lady Bears............................................2
Pike County scored twice in the first inning and never let the Lady Bears get closer than two runs the rest of the way in an elimination game.
Two Lady Pirate pitchers combined on a three-hitter. They were backed by a pair home runs — a two-run homer in the first and a three-run blast in the seventh. All seven runs came with two outs.
Pike County’s first homer came with two outs in the first inning off Sloan (1.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 K, 0 BB, 1 HBP) for a 2-0 advantage.
The Lady Pirates doubled their advantage in the second inning scoring two runs on a two-out double to open up a 4-0 lead.
PCHS chipped a run off the deficit in the bottom half of the inning. Sloan drew a two-out, four-pitch walk to keep the inning alive. Mai (1-for-3) followed with a first pitch single.
Horne worked a five-pitch walk to load the bases ahead of Childers drawing a four-pitch walk to force home a batter cutting the deficit to 4-1.
The Lady Bears left two runners on base in the third. Larson (1-for-4) opened the inning with a double and moved to third on Tomlinson’s (1-for-3) single two pitches later. Two pop outs and a groundout followed ending the threat.
Pierce County dented the plate with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Bennett drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on Larson’s fly ball out, and moved to third when Tomlinson’s grounder was booted. Sinclair’s ensuing grounder plated Bennet getting the Lady Bears to within 4-2.
An error and a walk started the seventh against Tomlinson (5.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 3 BB, 2 HBP). A twoout, three-run homer provided Pike County with insurance runs.
