CHESNEE, SC - The Chesnee Eagles downed the Fox Creek Predators 2-0 to advance to the AA District I Softball championship, where the Eagles will host the championship and have to be defeated twice to not advance.
The Eagles got an incredible performance from senior Maddie Handy in the pitching circle, who has routinely come up big for the Eagles time and time again this season. "I really focused on keeping my spin tight and making sure to put my pitches where they were supposed to be," said Handy. "Absolute dominance," said Chesnee head coach Tripp Fogle. "The good thing is nobody in our dugout or bleachers was surprised. Everybody knows that's what Tootie (Handy) is all about. I'm extremely proud of her, and glad she is on our side." Handy faced twenty-two batters, one over the minimum, as she had one batter reach base on an error while only allowing a single hit. She struck out 15 batters including a string of seven strikeouts and at one point striking out eleven of the twelve batters she faced. She also struck out at least one batter in every inning. When she wasn't striking out batters, her defense had her back, as one of the two base runners was caught stealing by catcher Ansley Blanton. Harley Grady, Claire Owens, Jada Sellars, and Emily Pruett were some of the other Eagle defenders to make nice defensive plays on Friday night. Owens and Aubrey Aparis, two speedsters at the top of the order, each reached base to open the bottom of the first inning. Handy followed by beating out an infield hit to drive in Owens and Aparis scored on the play thanks to a throwing error to plate the game's only runs. "It took some pressure off," said Fogle. "You feel comfortable with an early lead with the way Tootie (Handy) was pitching." "It felt good to get early runs as it gave us momentum we could keep building on," said Handy about the early runs. Handy and Skylar Barrett led the Eagles with two hits each as Aparis, Pruett, Brandolin Bearfield, and Olivia Tolleson each collected a hit as well. "It felt really good," said Barrett about her hits. "I had been in a hitting slump the past two games, so this is a really big deal to me to help my team advance to the District championship." Addyson Snellings pitched for the Predators as she threw a complete game with three strikeouts. Chesnee will be back in action on Wednesday as they will face the winner of Saluda at Fox Creek, which will be played on Monday. Wednesday's game will have a 5:00pm first pitch as the Eagles will have to be defeated twice. Comments are closed.
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