SPORTS OBITUARIES |
Friday's Internet Edition, 9:40 AM, May 9, 2008.
Central takes CCC once more
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Ledford’s Charlie Brown should find that job a lot easier following Wednesday’s night epic in the Central Carolina Conference tournament final. Brown’s Lady Panthers took Central Davidson, the defending 2-A state champions, to the wire only to fall a run short in a 3-2 loss.
“I am so proud of them,” Brown said. “No other team in the state [CDHS] has done that to them. You are talking about the best team in the state. We have been building for this all year. I knew they had this in them and I think we are peaking at the right time heading into the state playoffs.”
All Ledford (10-3, 17-6) did was something no team has done in over a year — score multiple runs off the Lady Spartan’s Chelsea Leonard, who is widely considered the top softball pitcher in North Carolina. Emily Byrd’s RBI triple with two strikes and two outs in the top of the seventh inning plated Jessica Morgan to tie the score at two, sending a buzz through the crowd that this may be the night the mighty Spartans fall.
“I was so nervous with two strikes,” said Byrd. “I thought [Leonard] would pitch me the rise because that was what I struck out on my last time up. It just came inside and I went with it. It was worth it. This is a big confidence booster for us right before states.”
There is a reason why Central (26-0, 13-0) hasn’t dropped a game this season, and the Lady Spartans showed their valor in their final at-bat. Carrie Jernigan’s bunt single and ensuing steal got the one-out rally started. A wild pitch from LHS starter Kristen Murphy put the winning run just a base away, allowing Jernigan to score on a Carla Owens grounder to short. Brittany Teer fielded the play cleanly and her throw to home appeared to beat the runner, but the ball leaked free from Emily Darr, ending the game.
“We got tested tonight like we have all year long,” Central coach Gene Poindexter said. “We were able to put the ball in play and do some things offensively that were advantageous to us at the end of the game. My hat goes off to Charlie and his girls. They were well prepared and I hope they go far in the playoffs.”
Murphy matched Leonard zero for zero in the scoring column until the Lady Spartans got to the freshman in the third inning. After retiring the first two hitters in the frame, Owens blooped a single to left and promptly stole second base. Leonard legged out an infield single and her pinch-runner took second on a steal, putting Spartans on second and third. While Gina Antonucci didn’t get all of Murphy’s 1-1 offering, she got enough, dropping a base hit to center that second baseman Olivia Poplin nearly made a snow-cone catch on, giving CDHS a 2-0 lead.
“We failed to make the most of our chances in the first inning,” said Brown of the Lady Panthers stranding two runners in the opening stanza. “That really could’ve swung the momentum. I am just proud of our effort and the way we played. The seniors stepped up and our little freshman did a fabulous job keeping us in the game.”
Ledford cut the deficit in half in the fifth when the Lady Panthers scored their first run of the season off Leonard. Morgan walked leading off the inning and came home three batters later when Byrd laced a two-out single to left, making the score 2-1.
The Lady Panthers start the playoffs on Tuesday with a home game against the third seed from the Rocky River Conference.
Staff Writer Eliot Duke can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 233, or at eliotduke@hotmail.com.
Last second goal ousts Ledford
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Tied 2-2 with visiting South Iredell in the first round of the 2-A state playoffs, overtime appeared on the horizon to settle the score. But in a gut-wrenching turn of events, the Lady Vikings scored a goal in the final 15 seconds to move forward, while the Lady Panthers stood in stunned silence.
“It is a round ball that bounces,” said Ledford coach Matt Doyle. “What are you going to do? In the end, it is what it is.”
With a malfunctioning scoreboard for much of the evening, Ledford knew it was getting ever so close to overtime. So did Iredell. In a haste to find the back of the net, Allison Malo fired a shot that found its way to paydirt, setting off a celebration on the far side. Seconds after the ball was put back in play, the whistle blew and a dream of winning a playoff game vanished for the Lady Panthers.
Two minutes into the second half Ledford took a 2-1 lead on a Sam Young cross that streaking Julie Baker buried in the goal, swinging momentum fully on the home side.
But after that tally the offense simply vanished for Ledford, as the Lady Vikings produced run after run. None of them ever crossed the goal line, but the 73rd minute brought about a change that would set up the heroics of Malo.
Amanda Comer was fouled in the box to set up a penalty shot. Sweeper Rachel Gibson approached the ball and struck a liner to the left. Goalie Grace Lackey nearly got to it in time, but it whizzed by to tie the score.
“Painful,” said Doyle in regards to the sequence that tied the game. “I actually thought Grace had it until I saw her roll over.”
Ledford struggled to even get the ball on its side of the field over the waning moments, and a postseason that had plenty of promise would soon screech to a halt in the last minute.
“We weren’t moving the ball well second half and we weren’t pressuring,” said Doyle. “It was almost like we were sitting, and in the playoffs you can’t wait because they will bring it to you.”
Though not how Doyle envisioned the season ending, there was nothing but joy in his mind for the way his team got significantly better from a season ago.
“They improved from last year and they worked their tails off,” he said. “I am proud of them.”
In the first half Iredell took the lead 18 minutes in following up a ball crossed to the middle for a score.
Ledford had a chance moments before that with Young firing a long shot with the keeper out, but the ball deflected off the post and was cleared out.
The Lady Panthers were able to tie the game at 1-1 just before the half. Amanda Stapleton centered a ball that was misplayed by the Iredell defense. The side-spin on the ball carried it over to the awaiting Kelsey Gilliam, who unleashed a shot to the far post for the equalizer.
Ledford ends its season with a record of 10-7.