HIGH-FIVE. After sophomore Evelynn Harris scored a run against Ursuline, head coach Ashley Crump congratulated her with a high-five. Up-and-coming star Harris has also been explosive in junior varsity. Photo by Wyatt Hardy.
Softball Overcomes Hurdle In Semifinal Victory
“We are all in this together,” was the message that head coach Ashley Crump gave her team after their 7-0 district semifinal win against Ursuline (8-6) at Borgia High School on Saturday, Oct. 14.
Sullivan (18-15) had advanced beyond the quarterfinals due to low numbers on the Normandy Collaborative team.
Crump told the Lady Eagles how proud she was of them for making it one game further than they did the previous year.
In 2022, Sullivan had suffered a 9-2 defeat in the district semifinals, which had prevented them from going to the state championship, as they had won the year before.
Determined to overcome the hurdle that had set them back, Sullivan played passionately until the very end.
Winning pitcher Ava Declue delivered two strikeouts and allowed only one hit to secure the victory. Evvie Blankenship relieved her on the mound at the top of the 7th inning to cap off the shutdown of the Lady Bears.
At bat, Blankenship drove in two of Richardson’s runs with doubles and also made it home herself.
Richardson tallied two runs, hits and RBIs, including a single, a double and reaching base on an error. Her sacrifice fly allowed Lohden to score the final run of the game.
Leadoff batter Lohden secured two singles, one through a bunt and the other from a fly ball.
Hayli Venable’s single drove in Blankenship’s run and Evelynn Harris scored a run.
Braun doubled with a line drive and scored off Mckynlee Peterson’s grounder.
Declue doubled with a line drive and Rae Corwin singled with a bunt.
Carli McCreary collected an RBI and two singles.
Be sure to be on the lookout for next week’s article on the 2023 softball season recap.