Softball Play-offs

The Newberry Academy softball team finally ran out of steam on Saturday, ending their run in the SCISA state tournament. Newberry won two games and lost two games, falling just short of the title game. The Eagles finished in third place in SCISA 1A softball. The tournament started on Friday, and Newberry won their first game but lost the second game, sending them to the loser’s bracket and an early Saturday morning matchup versus Bowman Academy to see who would advance. The Eagles won 2 - 1 in a nine-inning defensive struggle. Bowman advanced a runner to third in the top of the first inning, but failed to capitalize as Newberry ace, Jessica Cole, struck out the last two batters of the inning. The Eagles hit the ball well, but did not threaten to score until the bottom of the fourth inning when Noel Franklin hit a double and eventually reached third base. Unfortunately, Newberry was unable to bring her home. After the seventh inning, the score remained 0 - 0, and the international tie-breaker rules were applied. Both teams started the inning with a runner on second base. Bowman scored in the top of the eighth inning, taking a 1 - 0 lead. Newberry answered in the bottom of the eighth when Franklin drove in Ashley Chaffee. Chaffee would end the game in the bottom of the ninth inning when she hammered a ball to the outfield that fell between center and right field, allowing Harley Johnson to score. Newberry went on to lose the next game to Jefferson Davis Academy, but played strong until the end. The loss brought Newberry Academy’s record to 12 - 8, but also marked the best record in the program’s history. Seniors Marina Miller and Ashley Dominick played their last game for Newberry, but a strong core of players return including the hot hitting Chaffee and Franklin, and Cole, who struck out 42 batters over the course of two and a half games this past weekend.