The Clarendon County Ponytail All-Star 12-and-under softball team experienced the thrill of victory and the sour taste of defeat in back-to-back days.
Following an 11-1 rout of Turbeville in the Dixie Ponytail Subdivision last Thursday, Clarendon earned a chance to win the subdivision championship.
However, they had to face Sumter and despite playing some of their best ball, they fell 8-7 in an extra inning Friday evening.
The loss ended their week long run with a 2-2 record.
Thursday’s game against Turbeville was expected to be a low scoring affair but Clarendon County came out swinging and never let up.
The game ended early due to the 10-run rule after Clarendon County’s Ansley Ridgill scored her second run and the team’s eleventh.
“They had a real good night,” said Head Coach Charlie Brunson. “The girls came through.”
Pitcher Laura Beth Thigpen got the start on the mound and she threw four innings with one strikeout, no walks, no hits and one run.
She was replaced by Ridgill, who finished with one strikeout, one walk, one hit and no runs.
“Everybody played pretty good defense,” said Brunson.
Clarendon County accumulated 10 hits while limiting Turbeville to just one.
Shannon Corbett led Clarendon County at the plate going three-for-three.
She hit two singles, a double, scored two runs and had three RBIs.
“She was real great,” said Brunson. “She’s a good ball player.”
Brunson also credited the solid play of second baseman Cora Downer. She caught several fly-outs and aided other defensive efforts.
“She also played a good game,” said Brunson.
After retiring the first three Turbeville batters, Clarendon wasted no time putting runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning.
Taylor Lea hit Brooke Dukes’ first pitch to center field for an opening single.
Sara Knight Nalley followed with a walk and Shannon Corbett slammed a ball to center field for an RBI single, scoring Lea for a 1-0 Clarendon County lead.
Baylee Elms was walked and that loaded the bases.
Clarendon scored two more times in the inning due to errors and miscues and held a 3-0 advantage.
Turbeville finally got on the board in the top of the third inning.
Mikayla Anderson got to second on an overthrow.
She later ran to third and then scored on two consecutive passed balls for a 3-1 deficit.
Clarendon County got the final outs of the inning and answered in the bottom half.
Clarendon scored due to wild pitches and held a 5-1 lead.
Turbeville had no answer for Clarendon the remainder of the game, who added six more runs in the fifth inning to claim the victory.
With the win, Clarendon earned a spot in the Ponytail Championship game Friday night.
Despite the 8-7 loss, assistant coach Robbie Nalley said the girls played well and ran out of gas down the stretch.
“We had them on the ropes,” he said.
Sumter opened the game with a 3-0 lead but Clarendon answered with two in the bottom of the first and another in the second, knotting the score at 3-3.
The teams exchanged runs over the rest of the game and regulation play ended with a 7-7 standstill.
In the final inning, Sumter’s Olivia McLeary scored the go-ahead run for the victory.
Corbett was Clarendon’s leading hitter going three-for-three with a double and two singles.
Other hitters were Rebecca McNeely, Laura Beth Thigpen, Baylee Elms, Sara Knight Nalley and Taylor Lea.
Clarendon County finished second in the sub-district bracket.
Comments
This was a better team than the record indicated. Great job girls! I enjoyed watching you this year. ALL of you played with dignity and class for Clarendon County.