5A SOFTBALL STATE TOURNMENT : Harrison slips past Beebe
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
HARRISON — After a threeyear absence from the postseason, the Harrison Lady Goblins want more than just a taste of the state tournament.
The Lady Goblins, the third seed from the 5 A-West Conference, broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the sixth inning Friday and made that run stand up for a 3-2 victory over the Beebe Lady Badgers at the Class 5 A state tournament.
Amy Horne, who pitched all seven innings to get the victory, scored the winning run when she reached on an error to start the sixth inning and scored when Taylor Adams reached on another error. From there, Horne retired six of the last seven batters she faced, striking out two.
“It was as close as we thought it would be,” Harrison Coach Chuck Eddington said. “We’ve been in a few like this all year in conference play and we didn’t expect anything different in state.” The first three innings were a pitchers’ duel. Horne retired all nine batters she faced while Harrison had 10 batters come to the plate, getting three on base but two were picked at first.
Both teams scored two runs in the fourth inning. Annie Mc-Donald led off with a single and Horne reached on an error when her sacrifice bunt attempt was bobbled. A sacrifice by Mallory Young moved the runners into scoring position, then Adams hit a grounder to shortstop Emily Bass. Bass threw home, but McDonald slid under the tag for the game’s first run. Horne then scored on a fielder’s choice by Jacinda Webb to make it 2-0.
The Lady Badgers got both runs back in the bottom of the inning. Laura Tucker reached on a strikeout-passed ball, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Bailey Thomas. Bass drove in Tucker with a single, which turned out to be the only hit of the game for Beebe. Bass later scored on a passed ball.
Harrison had five hits, all singles and by five different players. Horne gave up just 1 hit but struck out 7 and walked 1.
All five runs in the game were unearned.
“There’s always those nerves in the first round of the state tournament,” Eddington said. “I’ve told the girls that if you could make it past that first game, you get the tempo of it and you get into your rhythm.
“ We made some errors, but luckily they made more than we did. We put the ball into play more times than they did.” Harrison will face Malvern at noon today. The Lady Leopards defeated Pulaski Robinson 4-0 in the first game Friday. Harrison (22-10 )................... 000 201 0 — 3 5 2 Beebe (19-7 )....................... 000 200 0 — 2 1 3 Horne and McDonald; Watkins and Sanders. W — Horne (21-10 ). L — Watkins.
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