Shenandoah Bishop dropped a single into right field to bring home Paige Scruggs on Friday night to give the Chesnee softball team a 5-4 win over Crescent sending the Eagles to the AA Upper State championship series on Monday.
"This feels amazing,” said Chesnee coach Tripp Fogle. “I'm happy for our girls, our coaches, and very happy for our community as they gave us a lot of support tonight. We wanted this one really bad." Prior to the game winning hit, Bishop made an outstanding plays in the field as well that started in the first inning when Crescent's Jenna Davis hit a one out single before later advancing to third base with still one out. The Tigers got a pop up but a beautiful diving grab by Bishop followed by a quick throw in held the runner allowing the Eagles to escape unscathed. "I think it was a big momentum swing for us early in the game,” said Bishop. “It allowed us to keep them from scoring a run." Paige Scruggs hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the first inning before later scoring on a single from Sam Carver to give the Eagles an early 1-0 lead. Carver followed that up with a shutdown inning in the circle in the top of the second. A pair of back to back two out hits led to Crescent's first run in the top of the third inning to tie it up at 1-1 off a Jenna Davis single. The Tigers added two more runs in the their half of the sixth inning off the bats of Emma Johnson and Jaylin Hart to put the Tigers up 3-1. After some miscues on the base paths by the Eagles, they were looking for a spark to get them back in the game and that came off the bat of Kyleigh Thompson who delivered a thunderous three run homer to centerfield to put Eagles in front 4-3. "It felt like a hit I've never had before coming off the bat,” said Thompson. “After I hit it, it was a great feeling seeing all my teammates there at home plate to celebrate." "We knew it was coming,” said Fogle. “She was destroying the ball in the cage before the game. She’s really starting to get in a rhythm." After another hit by Davis put a Crescent runner on with one out, she later scored on a single by Emma Johnson to tie the game at 4-4. Paige Scruggs ripped her third double of the night to lead off the Eagle's half of the seventh inning. After walks by Ali Scruggs and Mattie Martin loaded the bases with one out the biggest swing of the night came off the bat of Shenandoah Bishop who hit a deep fly to right field that fell in for a single to plate the winning run. "It was a pressure situation and I knew I had to come through for my team,” said Bishop. “It felt great to see the ball hit the grass as I knew we were going to Upper State." Paige Scruggs not only had a big night at the plate with three doubles but she also picked up the win in the circle as she pitched the final three innings for the Eagles. Mattie Martin had an outstanding night at the plate as she was one for one but reached all four times thanks to a trio of walks. Coach Fogle was quick to give credit to his assistants for the accomplishments of the team this season. He is assisted by Chris Stacey, Billy Steadman, Chase Carver, and Billy Cash along with Pennie Stacey who is the team's administrator. "They help us all over the field,” said Fogle. “They never complain and make sure we are all on the same page. They hold our girls accountable and our girls love each and every one of them. I'm extremely blessed to have them." The Eagles will travel to Cherry Park in Rock Hill, SC to take on Legion Collegiate on Monday in the opening round of the Upper State championship series with a 7:00 PM first pitch. Comments are closed.
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