By Maurice Patton
COLUMBIA – Six days between postseason games without weather interruption is an anomaly in high school softball.
That’s the situation Columbia Academy’s Lady Bulldogs found themselves in Wednesday, as they faced visiting Goodpasture – finally – in the finals of the Division II-A Middle Region tournament.
Returning to the field for the first time since their May 6 defeat of Middle Tennessee Christian in the winners bracket finals, the layoff was of little consequence as CA (36-2) extended its winning streak to 22 games with a 7-1 victory.
“I thought we responded pretty well,” coach Seth Anderson said after CA piled up 12 hits against two Goodpasture pitchers, broke the contest open with a five-run fifth inning and got five perfect innings of work in the circle from junior Averi Slaughter before she settled for a one-hitter.
“We hit the ball well. We had good at-bats. We limited our strikeouts (two). Defensively, we played well. And Averi pitched well. Against that lineup, to give up one hit is pretty impressive. I thought she did a great job getting ahead in the count.”
The hosts’ only concern, even as they scored seven runs, was the baserunners that didn’t score – and it was a concern from the game’s onset.
Slaughter sat Goodpasture down in order, getting a flyout from Alabama signee Aubrey Barnhart to end a nine-pitch at-bat for the final out. Karli Quillin reached on a two-base Barnhart throwing error to lead off the bottom of the frame, followed by a single from No. 2 hitter Myleah Hardy.
“After her getting walked intentionally four times against Middle Tennessee Christian, we felt like mixing (the lineup) up a little would make it more difficult for other teams to pitch to our lineup,” Anderson said of moving Hardy (.484, 17 home runs, 56 RBIs) out of the cleanup spot.
Both Quillin and Hardy were stranded, though, as Tori Duval, Kennedy Chatman and Journey Mitchell followed with a sacrifice bunt, a strikeout and a groundout.
An inning later, CA scored on Quillin’s two-out flyball to shallow left field that dropped in, allowing Carolina Johnson to cross the plate from second base. However, the Lady Bulldogs left the bases loaded. They then stranded two more runners in the third inning, and left the bases loaded yet again in a one-run fourth as Quillin drove in Abbigail Adkins.
“We’ve got to do a better job situationally,” Anderson said after Columbia Academy left 14 on base – 10 in scoring position. “We’ve got to be able to get a flyball up to the outfield. We’ve got to execute.
“I’m proud of them winning this game, but we can get better.”
The hosts broke the game open in the fifth, sending 10 hitters to the plate and getting five singles while taking advantage of two more Barnhart throwing errors.
“We hurt ourselves all day,” Goodpasture coach Lee Phillips said. “They’re a really good team. We told our kids, you can’t give them anything. They’re too good to give them chances. We didn’t put it in play.”
The Lady Cougars (28-6) managed just one baserunner, on a pinch-hit home run by Kayla Bailey to lead off the sixth inning. Barnhart went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and four errors at shortstop.
“Even great players have bad days,” Phillips said. “We’ve got great players, they’ve got great players. Sometimes it’s not your day. The good news is, we get to play again.”
Slaughter struck out 10 for her fourth win of the tournament, earning Most Valuable Player honors. Hardy, Quillin, Duval and Karley Harakas each were named all-tournament.
“I think we were all pumped up to play, especially against Goodpasture,” Slaughter said.
“I just tried to stay away from the middle (of the plate). I was throwing corners. I think that played a big part in keeping them off balance.”
Quillin went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs to lead CA offensively. Hardy — walked twice intentionally Wednesday — Adkins and Chloe Carter each added a pair of hits in the win.
“I think we were excited to get back out there after six days,” Anderson said. “You can only practice so much.”
Columbia Acad. 7, Goodpasture 1
G 000 001 0 – 1 1 4
C 010 150 x – 7 12 0
Maddie Bowman, Faith Brown (4), Bowman (6) and LeighAnne Dearing. Averi Slaughter and Laney Turner. W: Slaughter. L: Brown. HR: Goodpasture – Kayla Bailey.
Photos by Ric Beu, Maurice Patton / SM-Tn Sports