In the span of a few minutes, the Colleton County softball team and its packed stadium full of supporters went from elated to deflated Monday night in Walterboro.
The Cougars thought they had a game-ending double play to seal a Game 1 win over visiting Darlington in Game 1 of the Class 4A Lower State championship series, only to see the game extended when a close call didn’t go their way, and the Falcons took advantage, scoring a pair of runs with two outs and leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to escape with a 3-2 victory.
Colleton County was clinging to a 2-1 lead with runners at the corners and one out in the top of the seventh when Makayla Chisolm snared a hot shot to third base and threw to first for an apparent double play, but it was ruled that first baseman Bailey Cox was off the bag, extending the inning. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Whitley Weathers got a ground ball to third, but Chisolm’s throw to second popped out of Shamorie Overton’s glove, allowing the tying and go-ahead runs to scamper home.
The top of the Cougars’ lineup loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half, and it seemed a walk-off win was imminent, but the Falcons cut down the tying run at the plate on a hard grounder to third before Madie Andrews recorded a strikeout and induced another grounder to third to end the threat and the game.
The Cougars opened the scoring with a two-out rally in the first, as Cox singled and stole second before Sydney Howard drove her in with a single to center. The Falcons got it right back in the top of the second when Amber Rogers led off with a double and scored on Ashton Goodwin’s RBI single.
Weathers and Andrews settled in and kept the score there until Colleton County executed a daring double steal in the fifth, when Maggie Kennedy sprinting home from third as Shandi Brown swiped second, but they left two runners on base to keep it a one-run game. The Cougars had another chance to add some insurance in the sixth after two-out singles from Overton and Kennedy, but Andrews got out of the jam with a strikeout.
Darlington’s winning rally was almost thwarted before it started in the seventh, as Brown raced into left-center field and nearly made a spectacular diving catch on Emily Johnson’s one-out double. Ary McPhail then beat out an infield single to put runners at the corners before the fateful near-double play and critical error that gave the Falcons the lead.
Weathers and Andrews dueled it out all night in the circle, as the Colleton star scattered eight hits and allowed three runs (one earned) with one intentional walk and one strikeouts and the Falcons’ flamethrower struck out four and walked one while allowing 11 hits and two runs.
Kennedy had a big night at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a run, and Brown and Cox each added two hits for the Cougars.
The series shifts to Darlington on Wednesday, and the Cougars (18-1) will have to rebound from their first loss of the season to force a decisive third game at a neutral site Friday.