The momentum and positive vibes lingered for South Central’s softball team. But thanks to a big first inning, the late drama didn’t have to stick around.
The Falcons jumped on Dixon for five runs in the first inning and never looked back in a 10-5 victory in an NCHSAA Class 3A fourth-round matchup on Friday in front of a raucous crowd at South Central.
The Falcons (19-5) will face No. 5 South Brunswick, a 2-1 winner over No. 16 Havelock, in a best-of-3 regional series this week to determine the East’s representative in the NCHSAA Class 3A championship series. SC travels to Southport on Tuesday for the 6 p.m. opener, with Game 2 set for Wednesday at 6 in Winterville.
The win concluded a madcap 27-hour span in which South Central came from behind then got a game-winning home run in an 8-7, eight-inning victory over Union Pines in the third round Thursday night, then had to turn around and quickly get ready to face Dixon.
“It’s tough mentally on these young people. On me, too,” South Central coach Cotton Nicholson said of the two days. “To have a late game, then come back and play the next night against a team that’s just as good, if not better. They showed a lot of resilience, coming back today, getting a lead and holding on.”
The atmosphere was further amplified by a large contingent of Dixon fans who made the trip up from Holly Ridge carrying cowbells and an air horn, countered by chants and and eventually a bigger air horn by South Central’s supporters.
Dixon’s Addi O’Brien hit a one-out double in the top of the first inning and came home two batters later on Leila Atienza’s single to the outfield to give the Bulldogs an early 1-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the frame, South Central’s Maddie Zobre drew a leadoff walk on four pitches. Two batters later, Haven Roebuck went opposite field on a 1-0 pitch for a home run to put the Falcons ahead 2-1.
South Central wasn’t done. Savannah Ibarra drew a two-out walk. Consecutive doubles by Blaire Adee, Lacey Spivey and Shykayla Howard drove in Ibarra, Adee and Spivey to stretch the lead to 5-1, chasing Dixon starter Nadine Barren after eight batters and less than an inning of work.
“That was tough,” Dixon coach Chelsea Palm said. “We just didn’t have our pitching tonight. It’s a hard hole to come back from.”
“That’s always a great feeling when you get on top, knowing they’ve got to catch you,” Nicholson said.
What was also a great feeling for Nicholson was watching his entire lineup get into an offensive rhythm, which by his own account was not the case earlier in the season.
“At the first of the year, we were struggling — big time,” he said. “And now we’re starting to get it together. If this girl doesn’t hit, the girl behind her is getting a hit. It’s contagious. It really is.”
Ibarra was hit by a pitch to lead off the third inning. Adee reached on a throwing error after O’Brien, Dixon’s shortshop, fielded what could have been a double play, but couldn’t cleanly get the ball out of her glove. Spivey reached on a fielder’s choice when the Bulldogs tried to cut down Ibarra at third base to load the bases with no one out.
Howard was walked to force Ibarra home. Tellia Wallace was hit by the first pitch of the at-bat to send Adee home. Ava Coward singled home Spivey to make the score 8-1.
Dixon’s Barren hit a double deep into left field in the fourth to drive in Zoe Altamirano and Hannah Oakes, and Alivia Nokes’ sharp single allowed Barren to score easily to trim the Falcons’ lead to 8-4.
The Bulldogs added a run in the fifth as Atienza drew a leadoff walk and was driven home three batters later on a single by Oakes.
The closest thing to late drama was an inning that didn’t quite materialize for Dixon. With two out in the sixth, O’Brien was hit by a pitch, and Emily Beckett and Atienza were walked to load the bases. But with the Bulldogs’ best hitter, Grace Rokos, and her .481 batting average at the plate representing the potential winning run, Coward got a ground ball right back to her, which she threw to first to squelch the threat.
“I always tell my team that the sixth inning is the key most of the time,” Nicholson said. “If they catch you then, they’ve got momentum. If they don’t, they’ve got one inning left to try to catch you.”
“She was 2-for-2 for the night, and she hit a hard ball right back to the pitcher,” Palm said of Rokos. “An inch or two to the left or to the right could have been a base hit and two runs.”
South Central grabbed some insurance in the bottom of the frame. Kamdyn Haislip reached on a throwing error and came home three batters later on a single by Spivey. Alyssa Johnson’s single to right field brought Spivey home to complete the scoring.
Spivey finished 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Coward finished 3-for-4 at the plate.
The win was the seventh consecutive for the Falcons. All Nicholson acknowledged that he knew about South Brunswick when asked after the game is that the Cougars have a good pitcher.
Junior Kina Davis sports a microscopic 0.42 ERA and a 15-4 record. In 132.2 innings this season, she has yielded just 59 hits, struck out 265 batters and has already chalked up three no-hitters and four one-hitters.
Game 1 will be held in Southport, with Game 2 in Winterville and Game 3, if necessary, back in Southport.
Dixon finished its season with a 22-5 record.
BASEBALL
2A
Greene Central 1, Midway 0 (9 inn.)
In a game eerily similar to the two lost by J.H. Rose in 3A and D.H. Conley in 4A earlier in the week in the third round, Greene Central and No. 4 Midway carried a scoreless impasse into extra innings on Friday night before the Rams plated the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
The top-seeded Rams (25-0) remained undefeated and vaulted into the state semifinal round, where they will fittingly play the No. 2 seed in the East in Whiteville, a winner over No. 3 North Lenoir in the fourth round.
The Rams host Game 1 at 7 on Tuesday in Snow Hill before heading to Whiteville for Wednesday’s Game 2.
Each team managed three hits, and Midway committed the game’s lone two errors.
Greene Central ace Braden Burress pitched like it, striking out 10 and walking one in a complete-game, nine-inning shutout. He also had one of the Rams’ three hits, all of which were singles. Leadoff man Noah Ezell delivered the big one, driving in Mason Dillon in the ninth to win it.
Will Radford had the other single for GC which recorded its 11th shutout of the season.
3A
South Central 10, Croatan 0 (6 inn.)
The No. 14 Falcons continued to defy the odds on Friday night with a mercy-rule throttling of No. 7 Croatan.
South Central blasted the Cougars for eight runs in the first inning and scored two more in the top of the sixth to put Croatan on the ropes. The Falcons rapped seven hits to the Cougars’ four.
SC (22-4) stretched its winning streak to 11 in its third straight road win and will take on No. 4 Terry Sanford, a 9-8 winner over Lee County, in the best-of-three semifinals.
Mason Hobbs (2-4) was the only multiple-hit batter for the Falcons. Brody Stallings had two RBIs and Tyce Thompson and Brody Brannan each drove in single runs to pave the Falcons.
It was largely a bullpen approach for the Falcons, who got two innings from starter Justin Blow, 3.1 from Caleb Baker and 2 from Carter Hale.
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