With Boiling Springs softball leading 7-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning and two runners on base, the song "Kaw-Liga" by Hank Williams Jr rang through the stadium which meant senior catch Ragan Bristol was coming to the plate and four pitches later she took a Gaffney pitch over the right centerfield wall giving the Bulldogs a 10-0 win in their final region matchup of the season.
"It feels good as all my girls had my back and I couldn't be any happier," said Bristol. "My first couple of at-bats I never really got a solid pitch but the girls behind me were hitting which allowed us to get up. The pitcher made a mistake on that last pitch and I was able to get a good swing on it to send us home." Boiling Springs head coach Randy Piazza said he was glad to see something like that happen for his seniors in their last region game. "I told Ragan that you get a hit like that in one of your last games as a senior and you'll never forget it," said Piazza. "I was hoping something good like that would happen." The Bulldogs jumped ahead in the bottom of the first inning as pitcher Olivia Hall got their first hit of the game on a double to right centerfield before Bri McAbee, who was pinch running for Hall, came around to score on a double by Bristol down the right field line. Alexis McFalls, who pinch ran for Bristol, made the score 2-0 when she scored on a single by Bri Stanley to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead after the first inning. In the top of the third inning the Bulldogs got some big plays from their middle infield to help keep the shutout intact. With one on and one out Gaffney's Abigail Price hit a double to right centerfield to give the Indians runners at second and third base. On the next at-bat the Gaffney hitter hit a hard line drive that was snagged out of the air by Bulldogs shortstop Jaycie Osment on a diving catch to keep the runners at second and third. The next Gaffney batter then hit a groundball between first and second base that was stopped by a diving Bulldogs second baseman Jacie Ross and thrown on to first to keep the Bulldogs ahead 2-0. "Our shortstop and second baseman made ESPN type plays there to help keep the lead," said Piazza. Ross added to the Bulldogs lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as she reached base on a single before moving to second on a sacrifice by Kate Philbeck. Ross moved to third on a wild pitch and then came home to score on another wild pitch to Hall to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. Bri Stanley started the bottom of the fifth inning with a double to right centerfield before Sammy Quintero, who was pinch running for Stanley, moved to third base on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Hailey Owens. Quintero made the score 4-0 when she scored on an Osment single to centerfield before moving to second base on a single to right field by Sayde Parris. Osment made the score 5-0 when she came home on a Gaffney error that allowed Parris to move to third base and Ross to reach base along with advancing to second base. Parris made the score 6-0 when she scored on an infield single by AD Raines before Ross came around to score on a wild pitch to Olivia Hall that made the score 7-0 before Hall reached base on a walk. Bristol then ended the game with her three-run homer to give the Bulldogs the victory due to the ten run rule after five innings. Boiling Springs pitcher Olivia Hall had a good night from the pitching circle as she pitched all five innings not allowing a run while striking out six Gaffney batters on Tuesday night. "Olivia struck out six and pitched well tonight along with having a good night at the plate," said Piazza. On Thursday night the Boiling Springs program will honor their seven seniors and Piazza says it's a group that deserves to be honored because of their success at the school. "This group of seniors has been here a long time and they're the group I started with," said Piazza. "These girls have over 150 wins with only like forty losses and that says a lot about this group of seniors and the program they've help build. You always want good things to happen for your seniors and while we fell just short of the playoffs, for them to come out here and keep competing says a lot about them. I'm still very proud of these kids and this program because they've done a lot." Boiling Springs will return to play on Thursday night when they host Laurens for their final game of the season as they will honor the seniors prior to the start of the game. Comments are closed.
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