Lady Red Foxes lose to Dillon, beat Lake View
A. Goodwin batting for the Darlington Falcons against Carolina Forest on Saturday. PHOTO BY DAWSON JORDAN
Abby McManus pitching for Lamar against Bearcats of Rock Hill, SC.PHOTO BY PHYLLIS CAPLES
Hartsville’s Myah Harvey batting against the Lakeview Gators. PHOTO BY DAWSON JORDAN
By Don Gearhart
After winning a pair of games Friday night in the Pee Dee Pitch Off Classic at the Freedom Florence complex, the Hartsville Lady Red Foxes took the field Saturday morning against the Dillon Wildcats.
With both teams opting to pitch their backups, the game started on the right note for Hartsville.
Leadoff hitter Alyssa Poston singled sharply to right field then promptly stole second base and advanced to third on a passed ball. Then 7th grader Emma Kate Hudson lifted a sacrifice fly to center field putting Hartsville in the plus column early.
As the game progressed, it appeared that lone run might stand up. Freshman Allie Bailey had multiple base runners aboard through three innings but managed to limit the damage and keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard.
Hartsville looked to add an insurance run in the fourth inning when Olivia Martin reached base on an error with two outs. She stole second, then advanced to third on Myah Harvey’s infield single. Both runners were stranded with Hartsville still leading 1-0.
Dillon started strong in the bottom of the fourth. Makala Huggins led off with a base hit. Chesney Caddell then promptly singled moving Huggins to third base.
Erika Williams executed a perfect safety squeeze allowing Huggins to tie the score at 1-1. On the play, Caddell advanced all the way across the diamond to third. This set up another well executed safety squeeze bunt by Shakenol Murphy and Dillon claimed the lead 2-1.
With a tournament limitation of 90 minutes per game, Hartsville ran out of opportunities when the game was halted after five innings.
PITCHING:
Hartsville: Allie Bailey 4 2/3 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 4 K, 4 BB
Dillon: Chesney Caddell 5 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 7 K, 0 BB
HITTING:
Hartsville: Myah Harvey 2 H, Alyssa Poston 1 H, Emma Kate Hudson RBI
HARTSVILLE VS. LAKE VIEW:
Hartsville didn’t waste any time following their close loss to Dillon. Taking on the Lake View Wild Gators, the Lady Red Foxes scored three times in the bottom of the first inning when Alyssa Poston reached first when her bunt attempt was thrown into right field allowing her to end up on second base.
Emma Kate Hudson walked to put runners on first and second. Then, Kindan Dawson plated both runners on a long triple. After Caydon Thompson worked a base on balls, Olivia Martin laid down a bunt that scored Dawson to give Hartsville a 3-0 lead.
These runs would be all ace pitcher Poston would need. Lake View did manage to score in the third as Zandasia McNeil singled, advanced to second on a fielder’s choice, then scored when Spivey Evans singled to right. Poston scatted three harmless base hits the rest of the way, striking out six batters over the last three innings.
The Lady Red Foxes extended their lead in the bottom of the fourth. Jaysha McCullough was awarded first base when she was hit by a pitch. Poston singled sharply moving McCullough to third.
Hudson then singled through the hole between second and first to plate McCullough and move Poston to third. Dawson drove in the final run with a sacrifice fly to left. Time expired after Lake View was retired in the top of the sixth with a final score of 5-1 in favor of Hartsville.
The Lady Red Foxes ended up 4-1 for third place in the Pee Dee Pitch Off tourney.
Myah Harvey is leading the offense with a 0.583 batting average including a triple and 4 RBI. Olivia Martin is batting 0.545 with a double, triple, and 5 RBI. Alyssa Poston is 4-0 on the season from the mound posting 33 strikeouts in 21 innings and courting a 1.33 ERA.
PITCHING:
Lake View: Azaleigh Arnette 5 IP, 5 R, 8 H, 0 K, 2 BB, 1 HBP
Hartsville: Alyssa Poston 6 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 9 K, 0 BB
HITTING:
Lake View: McNeil 2 H, Evans 2 H
Hartsville: Hudson 2 H 1 RBI, Dawson 3B, 3 RBI, Thompson 2B