UPDATE: 12:30 P.M. SATURDAY
The Madison County fast-pitch softball team defeated West Laurens 2-1 in eight innings to advance to the Class AAAA championship round versus Northwest Whitfield Saturday.
The Raiders, 34-7, got a two-out RBI single by Haley Gordon in the bottom of the seventh to knot the game at one. Ivie Drake then scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a squeeze bunt by Dani Lukas.
Madison County must defeat Northwest Whitfield twice to capture the state title. The Bruins defeated the Raiders 8-7 in extra innings Thursday night.
The Raiders have defeated Wayne County twice, Columbus and West Laurens to advance to the championship round.
UPDATE 10:30 P.M. FRIDAY
Madison County will play on the final day of the Class AAAA fast-pitch softball state tournament after the Raiders defeated Wayne County 5-1 Friday night.
The Raiders (33-7) scored all of their runs in the fifth inning, getting their first run when Abby Morgan drove home Jorden Williams on a fielder’s choice.
Two-time Region 8-AAAA “Player of the Year” Ivie Drake then came to the plate with the bases loaded and drilled a grand slam over the right center field fence, circling the bases and being greeted at home by all of her ecstatic teammates.
“It was an outside pitch, but I had this feeling I was going to (knock it out) and I did,” said Drake.
Madison County players entered Friday’s action knowing that one more loss would send them back to Danielsville. But the team downed Columbus 6-1 in afternoon play, then defeated Wayne County for the second time in two days to advance to Saturday’s 10:20 a.m. game.
The Raiders will face West Laurens, which lost 3-2 to Northwest Whitfield Friday night.
Madison County will need to beat West Laurens, then down Northwest Whitfield twice — at 12:20 p.m. and 2:20 p.m. Saturday — to win the state championship.
Drake said the tough loss served as motivation Friday.
“The loss last night got us pumped up for today,” she said. “It got us a lot rowdier.”
Madison County was led by another standout performance by Randee Bettis on the mound Friday. She once again shut down Wayne County, giving up just one run in both complete game victories.
She was assisted by some stellar defensive performances by Raider fielders. For instance, in the fourth inning right fielder Jorden Williams gunned down a runner trying to advance to third base. In that same inning, Jessica Allen fired the ball from first to third base, catching a runner who had taken too wide a turn toward home.
In the fifth inning, shortstop Bri Carr charged hard left, fielded a grounder, stepped on second, then fired to first for a double play to end any Wayne County scoring hopes.
Drake said the team is fired up about playing on Saturday.
“It’s awesome,” said Drake. “I haven’t been here on a Saturday yet. We’ve always left on a Friday. There are no easy games from here. We’re going to have to play good defense and hit — just like we’ve been doing.”
UPDATE 6 p.m. Friday
Madison County blasted past Columbus 6-1 Friday afternoon to stay alive in the Class AAAA Elite 8 fast-pitch softball tournament. The team will play again at 7 p.m.
The Raiders jumped ahead of Columbus 2-0 in the top of the first inning when Jessica Allen ripped a two-out, two-run single to score Ivie Drake and Jorden Williams, who both were hit by pitches.
Columbus, which was eliminated from the tournament with a 31-6-1 season record, scored its lone run in the bottom of the second on an RBI bloop single.
Madison County, 32-7, added one run in the fifth when Drake led off with a slicing liner for a triple down the right field line and was driven home on a fielder’s choice by Dani Lukas. The Raiders added another run in the sixth on an RBI single by Megan Boswell that scored Kayla Argo. Madison County’s final insurance runs came in the top of the seventh when Williams slammed a two-run homer over the left center field fence.
Alexis Damron picked up the win, pitching four innings, while Randee Bettis threw three innings in relief.
Williams not only ripped a home run but made a crucial diving catch in right field in the fifth with the bases loaded and one out.
DAY 1 RECAP:
The Raiders downed Wayne County Thursday afternoon in the tournament opener, led by Dani Lukas, who drove home Ivie Drake on a sacrifice fly for the team’s first run in the top of the first inning. Lukas then ripped a two-out, two-run double to the gap in left centerfield to score Courtney Alexander and Haley Gordon in the fifth inning.
“Dani really stepped up big,” said Madison County head coach Doug Kesler. “She had some timely hitting for us.”
Randee Bettis picked up the win for the Raiders, going seven innings and giving up four hits, no walks and one hit batsmen, while fanning four. She was aided by a stellar Raider defensive effort in games one and two. The team didn’t commit an error in 15 innings of action Thursday, while fielders planted their jerseys in the dirt or grass on numerous occasions to grab a grounder or a sinking liner.
“I couldn’t ask for any more from our defense,” said Kesler.
The action moved to the South Commons Softball Complex stadium for the evening, game two matchup between Madison County (31-7) and Northwest Whitfield (33-3). The game started late and ended late, too. The extra-inning matchup was the final action of the day as all other tournament games ended, while the lights continued to shine over the late-night thriller. The two teams had a similar battle back on Aug. 13, when the Bruins won 7-6 in extra innings.
Madison County jumped on top early Thursday, aided by five Northwest Whitfield errors in the first two innings — the Bruins committed seven on the night.
After Ivie Drake and Bri Carr reached on errors in the first inning, Lukas picked up her fourth RBI of the day on a squeeze bunt to score Drake.
The Bruins responded with an RBI single in the top of the second, but Madison County pulled back ahead in the bottom of the inning. Abby Morgan reached on an error, then scored on a fielding error by the Bruins following a Bettis double.
Northwest Whitfield knotted the score in the top of the third on four walks. Bettis wasn’t getting strike calls and the Raider fan frustration was obvious as the umpire repeatedly called balls on pitches that were near the zone.
Gabby Gillespie came in to pitch for Bettis and the score remained tied until the top of the sixth inning when the Bruins Karlie Henson connected on an RBI single.
But Madison County answered in the bottom of the seventh inning. Carr lined an RBI single just past the reaching Bruin shortstop to score Alexander to send the game to extra innings.
The Bruins appeared to blow the game open in the top half of the eighth, scoring five runs, including a three-run blast by Ole Miss bound pitcher Emily Boyd in only her third at bat of 2012.
But the Raiders, trailing 8-3, didn’t give up. Morgan was hit by a pitch to drive home a run. Megan Boswell hit a grounder to third, which was misplayed by the Bruin third baseman, allowing Jorden Williams to score.
The game truly took a bizarre turn with the bases loaded and Haley Gordon at the plate. The umpires were confused about the pitch count. It appeared Gordon walked to drive home a run. She advanced to first base and Kayla Argo trotted home from third. But the umpires conferred and ruled that the count was actually 3-2 and Gordon didn’t walk. However, the men in blue allowed the run to count and Argo was credited with stealing home, cutting the Northwest Whitfield advantage to 8-6.
Carr then walked to score Morgan and trim the lead to 8-7, but Lukas hit a ground ball back to the pitcher for the final out. And Northwest Whitfield grabbed the win.
“She (Boyd) is a very good pitcher, but we found ways to score on her,” said Kesler. “I was really proud of the effort our girls showed. When things fell apart (in the top of the eighth), they really battled back. They didn’t give in.”
