Decatur, Ala. - The Lady Eagles headed to the SSAC Softball Championship for Day One Thursday morning at Wilson Morgan Softball Complex. The Lady Eagles faced William Carey in the first game of the day. The Lady Eagles jumped out to a commanding lead, but late in the game, the Crusaders came back to win with five runs in the seventh and a walk-off run, sending Faulkner to an elimination game against Blue Mountain. In game two, the Lady Eagles fell behind quickly but never gave up. However, the Toppers ended the game as they avoided a late comeback from the Lady Eagles.
William Carey 8, Faulkner 7
Game One consisted of the #3 William Carey Crusaders and your #6 Lady Eagles. The two teams had just faced off at Carey where the Crusaders swept the Lady Eagles. Coming into the day's game the Lady Eagles were 1-3 against the Crusaders.
Faulkner jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead early after
Addyson Jarman homered for a two-run RBI. Then two innings later pushed it to 5-0 when
Gracie Pittman sent the ball over for another two-run RBI.
Late in the game, the Crusaders stormed back to tie it up with four runs in the bottom of the seventh. They then went on to send the Lady Eagles to an elimination game against the #8 seed Blue Mountain Toppers after a walk-off RBI single. The Crusaders won the game 8-7.
In Game One, the Lady Eagles had nine hits and only one error.
Blue Mountain 8 , Faulkner 5
In Game Two, the Lady Eagles faced the #8 seed Blue Mountain Toppers for a loser-goes-home game. The two teams scored one run in the first inning.
Madelyn Becker helped push Jarman across the plate for the Lady Eagles' first run and gave Becker the RBI.
In the top of the second, the Toppers extended their lead with three more runs and followed it up with two more in the third and fourth to lead 6-1. Faulkner put another run-up in the bottom of the fourth after Kinsley Wesley grounded out to shortstop but freed Jarman up to score.
In the bottom of the fifth, Faulkner tacked on another run to pull within three.
Campbell Hecklinski started the frame off with a single. She then made it to second after a wild pitch and found herself in scoring position.
Anna Catherine Segrest would then send Hecklinski home for an RBI with a single up the middle.
At the top of the next frame, the Toppers scored two more runs to lead 8-3. The Lady Eagles ended the sixth with no runs and headed to the seventh. At the top of the frame, they kept the score notched at 8-3. In the bottom half, Segrest singled. Jarman then stepped up to the plate and sent Segrest home after a shot over the fence for a two-run RBI homer.
Unfortunately, the Lady Eagles' season came to an end on the next at-bat when the Toppers caught a fly ball to seal the game at 8-5.
In game two, the Lady Eagles had 11 hits and zero errors.
Through both games, the Lady Eagles combined for 20 hits.
Chloe Davidson finished the day with three hits and four strikeouts as she pitched in game one.
Addyson Jarman had two home runs off four hits with four RBIs.
Madelyn Becker also had three hits on seven attempts.
Gracie Pittman finished the day with two hits, two RBIs, and one home run.
The Lady Eagles ended their season earlier than they wanted to but can't deny the season they had, They finished (29-17, SSAC 14-12) Several players had stellar seasons as the Lady Eagles brought home many SSAC All-Conference awards highlighted by
Chloe Davidson's Player of the Year and
Addyson Jarman's Freshman of the Year.
