Hartsville softball outlasts Darlington
By Don Gearhart
Although the Hartsville Lady Red Foxes whitewashed the Lady Falcons from Darlington in an earlier matchup, a rivalry game can never be predicted. Darlington had lost the previous meeting 14-0 while getting only one hit against the Lady Red Foxes.
Myah Harvey led off the game with an opposite field fly to the wall in left field. What might have been a sure double for most players, the speedster leadoff hitter raced all the way to third with a triple. She eventually scored on a wild pitch to give Hartsville an early 1-0 lead. Darlington knotted the score in the second. Emily Johnson lifted an opposite field double that landed on the chalk line in left field. She scored when Jezariah McCall-Baynes lined a single to right field.
To start the third inning, Carter Shumate was robbed of a base hit when Katlyn Church made a diving stop and bounced up to retire Shumate at first base. Harvey laid down a perfect bunt for a base hit and promptly stole both second and third base. After a walk by Avarie Easters, Caydon Thompson’s hard grounder to short was misplayed allowing Harvey to cross the plate. Trinity Davis collected an RBI when her bloop single to right field could not be fielded, resulting in a base hit. Hartsville was then leading 3-1 going into the fourth inning when Darlington failed to score in the third.
The Lady Red Foxes added a run in the fourth. Emma Kate Hudson walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. She then stole third base and a sacrifice fly to center field by Shumate. Darlington was shut down in their half of the fourth and the score was 4-1 in favor of the Lady Red Foxes.
Things looked like déjà vu for Darlington when Hartsville put up a seven-spot in the top of the fifth. Easters and Thompson led off with base hits. Davis hit into a fielder’s choice but all three runners were safe when the throw to third for the force out failed. Abbey Byrd was hit-by-a-pitch to get an RBI the hard way. Tatum Weaver’s grounder to second forced Thompson out at the plate but bases were still loaded. Hudson got an RBI the same way Byrd did by being hit with a pitch. Shumate then drove home another run with a base hit. Harvey, for the third time in the inning, got an RBI be being hit with a pitch. With two outs, Easters drove in the sixth and seventh runs of the inning with a gap-shot double. With Hartsville now leading 11-1, all they needed to do was retire the Lady Falcons without them scoring to end the game via the 10-run rule. But this is a rivalry game and Darlington showed they still had some fight left in them. Kansas Cassidy led of the fifth with a solid base hit. Lyndsey Tiller got aboard on a fielder’s choice before Alayna Williamson doubled to plate one run. Carly Gainey was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Church knocked in a run with a base hit and Johnson got an RBI on a fielder’s choice. The three runs, at least temporarily, voided the 10-run rule and the score stood at 11-4 in favor of Hartsville.
Neither team scored in the sixth inning. Mariah Weatherford hit what appeared to double to left-center. After first being called safe, the umpires changed the call to an out. With two outs, Shumate got another base hit and advanced to second when Harvey was hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced on a passed ball. Jaysha McCullough laid down a squeeze bunt to plate Shumate. She was awarded a base hit when the throw to first was not in time to get the speedy McCullough. In the meantime, Harvey never stopped running from second and scored before Darlington’s throw to the plate could get her out. The two runs increased the lead to 13-4. In a do-or-die last inning, the Lady Falcons showed they were not going down without a fight. Gainey was hit by a pitch before Church lined an base hit. A fielder’s choice off the bat of Bailey Blackmon loaded the bases with only one out. McCall-Baynes worked a walk for an RBI. A base hit off the bat of Zaria Mack got another run home. A third run scored when a pick-off play at first base was misplayed. Allie Bailey struck out the next two batters to seal the win.
Harvey led the Lady Red Foxes charge with three hits. Easters and Davis each had two hits for Hartsville.
Church, Johnson, and Cassidy each had two hits for Darlington.