INMAN, S.C. – Three softball teams began play on Tuesday with a chance at a share of the Region 3-3A championship and the top spot in the standings. The scenario for the Chapman Panthers was simple.
Just win. An offensive outburst over the final three innings helped power the Panthers to a 11-1 victory over the Broome Centurions in six innings. With the win, Chapman wins a share of the region crown and earns the number one seed, marking back-to-back Region 3-3A titles for the Panthers. Broome looked poised to strike in the opening frame as a Reagan Lee bunt single and an error put two Centurions in scoring position with one out. However, Chapman hurler Reagan Garrett picked up a strikeout and groundout to thwart the threat. Following the early scare, Garrett and the Panther defense retired the side in order over the next four innings. Autumn Fisher drew a leadoff walk in Chapman’s first turn at bat, swiped two bases, and trotted home on a scorching single to left by Garrett, staking the Panthers to an early 1-0 lead. The score remained that way until the fourth inning, when Chapman’s Madison Manning notched a seeing-eye single to left. Hailey Coley reached on a bunt single, but an error on the play allowed both Manning and Coley to score. Two batters later, Fisher launched a 0-2 offering over the left field wall, while Rylan Ivey earned a free pass and sprinted home on an error, creating a 5-0 lead for the Panthers. “They were being patient, waiting for their pitch, and being selective in their pitch choice,” said Chapman head coach Casey Green about the team’s approach. “Pitch selection has been huge for us. If I ask (Hailey) to bunt, she bunts. If I let her swing away, she can swing away. She is a triple threat – she can slap, she can hit, and she can bunt. She is also fast on the bases. She has accepted her role and what I ask of her.” Kenslie Edwards led off the Chapman fifth with a base hit to right and advanced to third on a wild pitch before crossing home plate on a Coley double to center. A Krislyn Wilder single to left plated Coley and extended the Panther advantage to seven. “I’ve been trying to have more confidence at the plate,” Edwards stated. “I struggled with that at the beginning, but as the season has gone on, I started gaining that confidence the more I’ve got on base. The more confidence I have, the easier it is to hit the ball.” “After my first two at-bats tonight, I had to make an adjustment because I kept popping it up. I had to go in there, think about what I was doing wrong – not the negatives, but taking the positives out of it – and fix it. It’s great to win the region because we get another home game. For the seniors, we want to keep playing at home.” Broome loaded the bases in the sixth and plated a run on a Chapman miscue. In the bottom of the inning, Ivey sliced an opposite field single to right and scored on a Garrett single to right, while Garrett and Sophie Whitley each rounded the bases on an Edwards single back up the box to center, which provided the final margin. Coley went 3-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in, while Edwards was 2-for-4 with two runs batted in. Garrett also went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two runs batted in, while Fisher notched a 2-for-3 night with a home run and two runs scored. Whitley drew two walks and scored once, while Manning (1-for-2, run scored) and Wilder (1-for-4, RBI) each added a hit. In the circle, Garrett yielded an unearned run while scattering three hits to go with three strikeouts. “(Kenslie) has been doing a really good job,” Green exclaimed about Edwards. “She works hard in practice and has really accepted her role as our designated player. She takes it and wants to do 100 percent of what she can do. Nothing was easy in region play, so we went about it in a different way. We are willing to work and want to win.” Chapman (14-5, 6-2) will close out the regular season with a trip to Gaffney for a non-region contest on Thursday, April 25th, slated for a 6 PM start. Thursday’s Scoreboard Boys Soccer – Chapman 3, Broome 0 · CHP clinches top seed in Region 3-3A · Next match: home on Monday o First Round of 3A Playoffs o Time & opponent TBA at publishing time Baseball – Chapman 7, Chesnee 6 · Next: home vs Chesnee, 7:30 PM on April 24th Boys Tennis: Chapman 6, West Oak 0 · CHP advances to 2nd round of 3A playoffs Comments are closed.
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