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Thomas Smith/The News
East Surry’s Samantha Smith slaps a single against Swain Friday.
Cardinal ace Hayley Shelton, a two-time state tournament MVP, was once again at the top of her game when it mattered most. Shelton struck out 12 in the opener against Swain and allowed just one hit to help the Cardinals to a 1-0 win. Against Midway in the second game of the night, Shelton struck out seven and walked three but gave up six hits, in the Cardinals’ 2-0 win.
Last season, Swain and East Surry met in a 14-inning marathon, with the Maroon Devils besting the Cards 1-0. This time, it was East who did just enough to pick up the all-important win.
Swain pitcher Shelby Parker and Shelton dueled to a dead heat through the first six innings, with East Surry having a slight edge on the ability to put the ball in play.
In the top of the sixth, Shelton walked Swain’s biggest bat in Kayla Myers to start the inning. The Maroon Devils then called for a bunt, and when no play could be made on the ball, Swain had runners on first and second with one out. After both runners moved up on a Shelton wild pitch, East coach Derrick Hill opted to walk Bop Walkingstick, another of Swain’s top batters.
Walkingstick made the decision a little harder for Hill, as she swung at several pitches outside the strike zone to push the balls and strikes to a full count. Shelton eventually walked her and the bases were loaded with one out.
But Shelton showed why she and the Cardinals are the two-time defending state champs, as she struck out the next batter and forced a pop up to second baseman Samantha Smith to get out of the jam.
Hill said he was not surprised at all at the way the game went with Swain, but did say he was a little surprised the Swain coaching staff opted to pitch to Bullington, the Cardinals RBI leader on the season.
“We weren’t going to let the Walkingstick kid beat us,” Hill said. “She put the ball in play against us several times last year and we know Myers, Walkingstick and Parker are their best hitters and we said coming down here we weren’t going to let those kids beat us. We walked Myers a couple of times and walked Walkingstick on purpose. We decided we were better off with the people behind her. If one of them gets a base hit and beats us, then we’ll live with that. That’s why I am surprised they pitched to Julie. I wouldn’t have.”
Shelton said she was not happy about giving up the first walk or the wild pitch, but said she didn’t panic because she had confidence in her teammates.
“I walked more than I would have liked to but sometimes that happens,” she said. “I know my defense is behind me. I was just trying to get it over the plate and I knew they would make the plays and get out of it.”
In the bottom half of the sixth, East landed the knock out blow. Senior Morgan Chilton slapped a dribbler to third which the Swain fielder booted, allowing her to reach first.
After Beth Isaacs bunted Chilton across to second base, Julie Bullington cranked the very next pitch from Parker to deep left, scoring Chilton. The hit all but sucked the life out of the Swain team and its fans, and gave the Cardinals the breathing room they needed to come out with the win.
“It was a barnburner and we expected that coming down here, the Parker kid is the real deal,” he said. “We kind of expected that whoever made a mistake here or there might lose the ballgame 1-0, and it just so happened that Julie gets a big hit after we manufactured the runner. That’s what we’ve been about all year though. These kids have done everything we asked them to do — move runners, get the bunt down, sacrifice yourself for the team. I think about mid-April they all bought into it and it’s paying dividends now.”
In the second game of the night, the Cardinals looked a bit sluggish in the first few innings. Midway was able to put the ball in play much more than Swain and Shelton looked to be suffering from slight fatigue. The weather at the Walnut Creek Softball Complex was hot and muggy all afternoon, and after an intense game, the Cards needed a little wake-up call about midway through Midway.
Shelton and the Cards again got out of a big jam in the top of the second when Midway loaded the bases. But in the bottom of the fourth, the Cardinals’ senior pitcher helped herself with a slap single to left to start off the inning.
Morgan Chilton moved Shelton’s pinch runner to second with a sacrifice bunt, and once again, Bullington cleaned her plate, smacking a ground rule double to left to make it 1-0 East Surry. Freshman Kelsey Wilson followed that up swiftly with a triple to left-center, which scored pinch runner Evelyn Wells from second.
The two runs were all East would need to advance to Saturday as the team to beat. Hill said prior to Friday his goal was to head to Saturday afternoon having to lose two games to lose the title.
“Obviously we feel good about somebody having to beat us twice tomorrow,” Hill said. “But it can be done and we proved it last year. We’ve got to come out in the first game tomorrow and take care of business. I don’t want to get into a situation where it’s one game for the whole shooting match. Hopefully we’ll come ready to play like we did tonight.”
East will take on the winner of tomorrow’s matchup between Swain and Midway, set for 11 a.m. The Cards will take the field against their opponent at 1:30 p.m. East needs just one win to take home the title.
Contact Thomas Smith at tsmith@mtairynews.com or 719-1920.
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