Dreams of state titles end for Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets
Last Updated on 5/22/2013
Published on 5/16/2012
Georgetown and Andrews high school's softball both ended the season within sight of Lower State titles.
Georgetown
The Bulldogs scored a come-from-behind victory over Chapin in the Lower State semi-finals and then lost to Hartsville in the finals.
"A chance to play for the Lower State championship was a very big thing for us," said coach Al Hutchinson. "I hope it prepares us to be state champions next year."
Chapin took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and had runners in scoring position but the Georgetown defense came through in the clutch, including outfielder Blakely Graham, who threw out a Chapin runner trying to score.
The Bulldogs rallied for six runs in the sixth inning. Katie Lunsford led off with a triple, and after a walk to Kellie Howard, Taylor Graham singled and Blakely Graham doubled. Kelsey Fulton doubled to score the final two runs and send Georgetown to the Lower State finals.
"The girls played a great game, and stepped up when they had to," Hutchinson said. "I am very proud of the way they came back from a loss to Hartsville, and put themselves into the Lower State championship game back at Hartsville."
The Bulldogs went into the championship game needing to beat Hartsville twice to advance.
The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, but Hartsville scored five runs in the third, four in the fifth, and two in the sixth.
Megan Strickland went 2-for-2 with an RBI and Fulton went 2-for-3 with one run scored.
"Georgetown had a great season, and I am very proud of each and every girl on this team," Hutchinson said. "We have had four straight district championships and I think this puts everything in place. We work very hard, and it proves it in the end."
Andrews
The Yellow Jackets lost 9-5 to Dillon in Lower State semi-finals.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead with five runs in the bottom of the first inning, helped by a walk and a Yellow Jackets error.
"We let them take a big lead early which is difficult to recover from," Andrews coach Meagen Johnson said.
The Yellow Jackets got on the board in the fourth when Taylor Headden reached on a dropped third strike, and scored on an error on a ground ball by Madison Cooper.
Dillon took advantage of a walk and an Andrews' error to extend the lead to 8-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Yellow Jackets came right back with two runs in the fifth. Allie Rogers scored on a sacrifice fly by Headden and Elise Bruce scored on a single by Kara Lambert.
Andrews cut the lead to 8-5 in the sixth when Cooper scored on a triple by Rogers, who then scored on an error. Dillon added a run in the sixth for the 9-5 final.
Rogers went 1-for-2 with one RBI and two runs scored, and Madison Cooper went 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored.
Andrews finished the season 20-12.
