CHESNEE, SC -Chesnee softball advanced to the championship game of the district playoffs by defeating Liberty 9-1 on Monday night, the second time the Eagles have defeated the Red Devils in the district playoffs.
"I'm proud of the girls for bouncing back from a tough loss on Saturday," said Chesnee head coach Tripp Fogle. "Emily pitched great in the circle. While we made some errors, we didn't let it consume us and were able to get the outs we needed." After Emily Pruett shut down the Red Devils in the circle in the top of the first inning, the Chesnee offense done its part in the bottom half of the first inning. Aubrey Aparis used her speed to get on first base and steal second base before later scoring on a RBI single by Jada Sellars. Sellars added to the lead as well as she scored on a Red Devils error after a single by Kyleigh Thompson to put Chesnee up 2-0 early. Emily Pruett continued her strong work in the circle with back-to-back shut down innings but Liberty scratched a run across in the top of the fourth inning on an error to cut the Chesnee lead to 2-1. Pruett started the bottom of the fourth inning with a single and her courtesy runner, Brie Smith, later scored on a error. Hannah Henderson followed Pruett with a single of her own and later scored on Emma Fogle's RBI single. Mikayla Cannon followed up Fogle by hitting into a fielder's choice but later scored on a RBI single by Kyleigh Thompson. Maddie Handy delivered the big blow of the inning with a three RBI double that landed at the base of the wall to give the Eagles an 8-1 lead after four innings of play. "My first two at bats I was swinging early in the count," said Handy. "My last two at bats I was able to be patient and find the pitches to drive." Aparis' speed and Thompson's bat helped the Eagles score an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning as Aparis reached base because of her speed causing an error by the Liberty defense. She later stole second base and third base before scoring on a RBI sacrifice fly by Thompson. Pruett finished strong in the circle for the Eagles as she sat down ten of the final twelve batters she faced, as the only two who reached base came from Eagles errors. She threw a complete game one hitter that saw her only surrender one unearned run. "I felt confident in the circle," said Pruett. "Tonight was dedicated to one of my past coaches who recently passed away." Several Eagles had big nights at the plate as five Eagles had two hits each as Aubrey Aparis had a pair of singles along with three stolen bases while scoring three runs. Jada Sellars also had a pair a singles and Emma Fogle also had two singles with a RBI. Maddie Handy had a pair of doubles and three RBIs while Kyleigh Thompson had a pair of singles with a RBI and a run scored. The Eagles will be back in action on Wednesday as they travel to Ninety-Six to take on the Wildcats with a 5:00pm start time. The Eagles must win two to advance to the Upper State championship series. "I'm happy to get a chance to play them again," said Handy about the rematch against Ninety-Six. "Hopefully we'll be the ones advancing to the Upper State." Comments are closed.
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