Lady Pioneers Out in Semifinal Round of Lead Off Classic
PANAMA CITY, FL -- The Lady Pioneers softball team fell one game short of the Silver bracket championship game on Sunday in the NFCA Lead Off Classic, falling to Iowa Western Community College 6-5.
SMC went 3-2 for the Classic over the weekend, with wins against Indian Hills CC, Muskegon CC, and Johnson County CC.
Game Recaps:
Sunday
SMC v. Iowa Western CC, 12 pm
Iowa Western quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead on SMC starter Chelsea Smith (R.S. Central HS) after a single, sacrifice bunt and back-to-back singles to left field.
The Lady Pioneers scored three in the bottom of the third inning, after Jena Westmoreland (Mauldin HS) tripled to deep center. Morgan Cox (Hillcrest HS) reached on a bunt single and Brittany Phillips (Broome HS) reached first on a squeeze bunt bringing home Westmoreland. With two outs, Jennifer Jones (Woodruff HS) beat out a infield single, driving in Cox and Phillips.
Iowa Western retook the lead in the fifth, off reliever Ashira Dobison (Colleton County HS). Four hits in the inning, combined with a infield error, allowed three runs to score making it 4-3. Bailey Smith (Crest HS) got the final out of the inning to control the damage. A unearned run in the sixth, with two outs, and a single run in the seventh, with two outs, put Iowa Western in the lead.
SMC entered the bottom of the seventh inning trailing Iowa Western 6-3. The Lady Pioneers put together a fierce rally, but left the tying and go-ahead runs on base when the final out was recorded. Morgan Cox led off the seventh inning with a four-pitch walk. Brittany Phillips' double to left field putting runners on 2nd and 3rd.Iowa Western misplayed a shallow fly by to left field from Lauren Eastwood (Hanahan HS), allowing Eastwood to reach first and Cox to score. Phillips advanced to third on the following pitch on a delayed steal. After a pop-out by Leah Babson (Stratford HS) and a strikeout of Jennifer Jones, pinch-hitter Casey Shue (Concord HS) laced a single to center-field, driving home Phillips. Pinch-hitter Amanda Hayes (Pickens hS) flew out to end the game
"We played well again for the most part, but we have plenty of things to fix. We made a couple of fundamental mistakes today and, when you do that against good teams, they usually make you pay. Iowa Western made a few against us and we turned them into runs. You can't give away outs and we did that twice today. But it was a very successful tournament for us. We got better as a team and also became closer as a group. We will now look to get healthy with a week off for spring break and quickly jump into Region X play on the road at Louisburg the following weekend," says SMC head softball coach Thad Fox.
Saturday
SMC v. Indian Hills CC, 6 pm
The No. 4 seed Lady Pioneers pounded a talented Indian Hills team 9-3 in the first round of the silver bracket championship.
SMC quickly erased a 1-0 deficit with a strong five-run first inning. The Lady Pioneers combined extra base hits with a masterful short game to force Indian Hills into a several mistakes.
Freshman Morgan Cox (Hillcrest HS) lead off with a double to left and advanced to third on a Brittany Phillips (Broome HS) bunt single. Freshman Lauren Eastwood (Hanahan HS) doubled to deep left, driving in Cox and Phillips. Casey Shue (Concord HS) singled and both advanced on a throwing error. Jennifer Jones (Woodruff HS) placed a beautiful squeeze bunt down and beat out the throw for a single. Morgan Blanton (Crest HS) advanced the runners on a nice push bunt single. Jones advanced to third on the throw and then scored on a squeeze bunt from Kelsey Pruitt (South Florence HS).
Cox lead off the bottom of the second inning with her second double of the game. Eastwood followed with her second double and 3rd RBI, driving in Cox making the score 6-1.
While the Pioneer bats were hot, they only equaled the performance of freshman starter Bailey Smith (Crest HS). Making her first appearance of the tournament, Smith went up and down the Indian Hills lineup with just a few hiccups - allowing three runs on five hits,while striking out 11.
SMC rounded out their scoring in the fourth inning, picking up three runs and increasing a three-run lead to six.
Freshman Amanda Hayes (Pickens HS) led off with a shot to center field, stole second, advanced to third on a single from Leah Babson (Stratford HS) to center and scored on Shue's single to right. Babson stole second and then scored on Jones' second hit of the game.
"This was one of our better performances of the young season. Indian Hills won this tournament a few years back and has a storied past. Bailey was excellent today, as was our execution of every facet of the game. I really can't find anything to complain about after the two games we played today. We had 16 runs scored on 19 hits, while only allowing three runs on five hits - and struck out 18 hitters on the day," says Fox.
SMC v. Muskegon CC, 12:30 pm
The Pioneers turned around from a big loss Friday night to No.4-ranked Santa Fe to defeat defending the Division II national champions, Muskegon CC, 7-0 in the final game of bracket play.
Freshmen Alison Ruppe (East Rutherford HS) and Caroline Pastre (Stratford HS) combined to no-hit Muskegon. Ruppe picked up the win, going 3 and 2/3 innings with three strikeouts; and Pastre worked the final 3 and 1/3 innings with four strikeouts.
The Pioneer bats got hot early and took advantage of several Muskegon errors to build a quick 5-0 lead after two innings.
Morgan Cox started the first inning by reaching on a error and moved to third, after a Brittany Phillips sacrifice bunt was successful and a errant throw. Lauren Eastwood drove in Cox with a fielder's choice and Phillips scored when Muskegon threw out Eastwood trying to advance to second.
Jennifer Jones started the second inning with a single to center, while Kelsey Pruitt followed with a single to right field. Jena Westmoreland moved the runners up to second and third - and both scored on a Cox single to left. Phillips singled to left also to drive in Cox.
SMC went quietly in the third inning, after stranding Leah Babson on second after a lead off single. Westmoreland scored in the fourth on a Cox single and overthrow, making it 6-0 Pioneers. Pinch hitter Morgan Blanton drove in Jennifer Bonham (Nations Ford HS) who pinch ran for Breana Putman (Wade Hampton HS) to round out the scoring.
"Muskegon is a very good team and very well coached; any national champion is legit. We played well and forced them into mistakes. We are still leaving a lot of runners on base, but at least we have the chances. Ali and CJ were awesome on the mound today. We have a lot of pitchers and they each have done a great job in their roles so far. Our pinch hitters are doing a good job for the most part, with having solid at-bats. That's how they can earn more time and contribute to the team," comments Fox.
Friday
SMC v. Santa Fe CC, 5 pm.
The Lady Pioneers were shutout 10-0 Friday night by Santa Fe CC.
SMC wasn't able to recover from an early lead Santa Fe took, when they went up five points in the first innings. The Lady Pioneers struggled against Santa Fe's defense, who only allowed SMC two hits in the entire game.
Sophomore Ashira Dobison (Colleton County HS) pitched the first three innings, while sophomore Macy Morgan (Northwood HS; Destin, FL) followed that up with two innings on the mound.
SMC v. Johnson County CC, 6 pm.
The SMC Lady Pioneers got off to a close start in their first game of the NFCA Lead Off Classic on Friday, with a 4-3 win over nationally-ranked Johnson County Community College.
The SMC Lady Pioneers jumped out to a early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Johnson County.
Brittany Phillips got aboard on a one-out single to right field and advanced to second base on a Lauren Eastwood ground-out. KC Shue drove in Phillips with a two-out shot down the third-base line.
Britni Ward made the lead hold up with her second masterful performance in a row -- seven innings pitched, one earned run, two walks, and five strikeouts
SMC threatened in just about every inning, but could not come up with the big hit and left 10 runners on base.
Johnson County tied up the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. With the 1-1 tie after seven innings, both teams went into the International Tie Breaker system.
Leah Babson was placed on second base, but the Lady Pioneers failed in the bunt attempt to move Babson to third. Pinch-hitter Jessica Bonham laced a one-out offering into right field to bring home Babson and give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead. Amanda Hayes walked and Kelsey Pruitt grounded out, moving the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Pinch-hitter Bailey Smith drove a twp-strike pitch in the hole at short to score pinch-runner Katy Faust. Morgan Cox then laced a single down the left field line, scoring Jena Westmoreland and making it 4-1 going into the bottom of the eighth inning.
Ward gave up a lead-off single, making the score 4-2. Then a fielding error and throwing error allowed the runners to advance to second and third, with nobody out. Ashira Dobison replaced Ward and got the Lady Pioneers out of a huge jam by picking up her first save of the year.
"We played very well at times in game one today, but at times we looked like we were unsure how to play. I am very proud of our composure in the field, on the mound, and at the plate today though. This is our fourth game this season decided by one run and it's really nice to finally pick up a close win," says Fox.
He adds, "Britni was very sharp today. She got ahead in the count and hit her spots. We had a very good game plan and they executed it to perfection. I'm extremely proud of Jessica Bonham and Bailey Smith for coming through in a huge spot. Pinch hitting is very difficult but they both did their job."
Spartanburg Methodist College has 14 intercollegiate teams that compete in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association, which includes colleges in the Carolinas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The College is in its 100th academic year of providing a quality education to students in a Christian environment. More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.
For more information please contact athletic director Mark Perdue at (864) 587-4237.
