COLUMBUS, Ga. — South Effingham’s seventh-inning ecstasy turned to heartbreak Wednesday afternoon against Houston County on the opening day of the Class 6A state softball championships.
Bitten by a controversial call, the Mustangs surrendered two runs in the bottom of the seventh and fell to the Bears 2-1, dropping into the losers’ bracket of the eight-team, double-elimination tournament.
South (28-3) will play Loganville in an elimination game Thursday at 7:15 p.m.
“Certainly, you put yourself behind the eight-ball if you lose the first game,” Mustangs coach Adam Newland said.
After advancing to the championship round last season, South entered Columbus with title hopes and eight returning starters. The Mustangs held Class 6A’s top postseason ranking and carried a school-record 23-game winning streak into the tournament.
They’ll need six wins over the next three days — one Thursday, two Friday and three Saturday, Halloween — to claim the championship.
Hendry puts South ahead
South will also need a quick recovery from Wednesday’s heartbreaker. Houston County, the runner-up from Region 2, stayed neck and neck with the Mustangs through six innings.
In the top of the seventh, Cadi Hendry’s pinch-hit home run appeared to give South the breakthrough it needed to survive the opening game.
But the Bears rallied in the bottom half. They had runners on first and second with one out when Felicity Curtis’ bloop hit to short center fell in.
South Effingham shortstop Sydney Minshall fielded the ball and threw to third for what appeared to be an easy force out.
However, the umpires ruled that third baseman Alyssa Martin had not touched the bag.
“Certainly, we feel she was on the bag, but they saw it a different way,” Newland said.
Bears rally in the seventh
Instead of recording the second out, the Mustangs brought the infield in to try to cut down the tying run.
Houston County’s Alanah McKenzie hit a sharp grounder that resulted in an error, allowing the Bears to tie the game. Freshman Na’Kali Bradley followed with a clean single to drive in the winning run.
“It was unfortunate with that call, but we had opportunities we could have capitalized on so it wouldn’t have come down to that,” Newland said.
Missed chances early
South had few opportunities to break through against Houston County sophomore Piper Lambert, who did not allow a runner past second base through the first six innings.
The Mustangs had a runner on second with one out in both the fourth and fifth innings but couldn’t deliver a timely hit. South stranded six baserunners through six innings.
Houston County also struggled to bring runners home against South Effingham freshman Kendall Ward. The Bears had runners on third base with two outs in both the fourth and sixth innings but failed to score.
Ward, who threw complete-game victories against Greenbrier and Coffee in the first two rounds of the state playoffs, allowed just three hits through the first six innings. One was a bunt single, and another was an infield single. She struck out two and walked two.
“Kendall has been pitching great and we felt confident with her on the mound,” Newland said.
