DANVILLE — The Southwestern Lady Warriors were faced with taking down Mercer County in the first round of the 12th Region Softball Tournament on Monday, a team they had lost to earlier in the season by a seven run margin. However, as the saying goes, that was then and this is now.
Southwestern built a 6-1 lead that slowly got trimmed down until they were ahead by just one run in the final inning, with the Warriors able to pull off a 6-5 victory thanks to some insane fielding plays.
This was a story of the pitching early on, as both Jayla Singleton and Ella Davis held their respective opponent to just one run, that was until the Warriors had an explosion of offense in the bottom of the fourth. Following one-out singles from both Maggie Gregory and Makenna New, an error scored the first of what would be many runs in the frame.
A sacrifice hit from Chloe Carroll gave the Warriors another run but brought them down to their final out of the inning. AFter a double from Kylie Dalton and a walk on Abigail Whitescarver, a two-RBI double from Lauren Hensley gave the Warriors a 6-1 advantage.
Mercer was then able to slowly cut into the lead until the top of the seventh, where they found themselves trailing by just two runs. An RBI single by the Titans trimmed that deficit to just one with no outs. No outs, however, quickly turned to two outs after an insane double play was turned as they got runners out at both first base and home plate. The bases were loaded again after two walks, before a long fly ball was tracked down by Carroll in left field to clinch a 6-5 victory for the Warriors. Both Maggie Gregory and Zoie Lowery had the same thing to say after the game, and it seems to be a mantra with this Warriors team:
Dalton and Hensley each had two RBI’s apiece in the win, with Carroll adding one of her own. Gregory, New and Whitescarver each had one hit apiece. Jayla Singleton had the start on the mound and went three innings, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and one strikeout. Whitescarver earned the win in relief, pitching three innings while allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits with five walks. Gregory earned the save, pitching the final inning and allowing one hit with three walks.
Southwestern improves to 22-12 and will take on Casey County in the semifinals on Tuesday.