Looking to advance to their third straight 4th Region Championship Game, South Warren got some help from its bats to edge by Allen County-Scottsville 5-1 in Tuesday night’s semifinal round.
After taking the Lady Patriots on a 10-0 joyride in the first round of the 4th Region Tournament two years ago, the Lady Spartans could not score as many runs this time around as ACS fought back.
“After what we did to them two years ago, we knew that they were bent on revenge,” said sophomore Madison Stumbo. “Just to have so many friends that played for them made it a whole lot tougher.”
Although giving up nine hits to the Lady Spartans, ACS held their own defensively throughout the whole game, unsurprisingly to South Warren head coach Chris Riggs.
“We knew it was going to be a close game because they are such a good region contender,” said Riggs. “We were lucky to get a couple of breaks and string together some good hits.”
Scoreless after an inning and a half of play, the Lady Spartans got a run on the board when Bailee Collins hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Kaitlyn Hare.
The Lady Patriots responded in the same fashion in the top of the third inning, when Taylor Stamps hit into a fielder’s choice to score Alli Byrn, evening the score at 1-1.
South Warren immediately added another run in the bottom of the third inning when Stumbo’s line drive scored Abbey Mills, giving the Lady Spartans a 2-1 lead.
After ACS went three up, three down in the top of the fourth inning, South Warren found a little more breathing room, adding three runs on a Lauren Martin RBI ground out and a two-run error in right field.
“I think we were really anxious throughout the game because it took us a while to get started, but we got more relaxed once we really got going,” said Stumbo on her team’s four-run lead.
The Lady Spartans threatened again in the bottom of the sixth inning but left runners at first and third before turning a double play to end the game.
Lots of the credit laid on the shoulders of South Warren senior pitcher/WKU-commit Shelby Nunn, who struck out nine Lady Patriots and gave up just two hits.
The Lady Spartans collected nine hits on the evening, with two apiece coming from Stumbo and Katie Conley. ACS mustered three hits from three different batters.
With the win, South Warren advances to face Warren East in the 4th Region Championship Game on Thursday evening at the WKU Softball Complex. The Lady Raiders defeated Barren County 11-0 in Tuesday night’s region semifinal.
The Lady Spartans won both district contests against East in the regular season but dropped the 14th District Championship game to the Lady Raiders, 6-0.
