For my Daily Mail article on the game, click here.
Burdette struck out the first four batters she faced and five of her first six. She cruised until Hager's double. Two batters later, Ripley's Dusti Fisher tied the game at 1-1 on an RBI single to left field.
South Charleston momentarily had a 1-0 lead prior to Fisher's hit. Before the sixth, Maddie Pauley had recorded the game's lone hit with a one-out single in the third.
Burdette started the bottom of the sixth inning with a single. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second. Then, Black Eagle batter Amanda McDonald hit an RBI single to left to take a 1-0 advantage.
Neither team scored until a three-run outburst by Ripley that proved to be the difference.
Here's a breakdown of the game's deciding innings:
SC 6th: Before the sixth, SC was 0-for-5 with five strikeouts hitting with runners in scoring position. That changed when McDonald connected with a one-out single to score the game's first run. The inning started with a single by Burdette. Next, Emily Bostic's sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second. Then, McDonald provided the run-scoring hit.
R 7th: Hager started the inning with a double off the left field fence. The hit missed being a home run by two feet as it hit the fence on a fly. with one out, Fisher singled to left to score the runner. Fisher advanced to second on the throw to home, though the next two hitters struck out back-to-back as Burdette got back on track.
R 11th: With one out, lead-off hitter Ali Cunningham singled to left field. Next, with Hager batting, Cunningham stole second base as Hager showed bunt. The catcher's throw to second base skipped off the shortstop's glove and allowed Cunningham to advance to third. With Cunningham on third, Hager walked. Hager advanced to second on defensive indifference. Next up, Moore laid down a perfect fielder's choice squeeze bunt. Cunningham scampered home before a throw could be attempted and Moore reached first safely without a throw. At that point, there were runners at first and third. With Ashley Mellinger at the plate, Moore advanced to second on defensive indifference. Then, Mellinger ripped a two-out, two-run single to left field to give Ripley a 4-1 lead.
SC 11: McDonald opened the inning with a double to center field, though Hager struck out the next three batters to finish the game.
According to Ripley coach Ken Swisher, Ripley advances to play the Greenbrier East-Shady Spring winner.
Below are some extra quotes from my interviews with Swisher, SC coach Bobby Catlett, Hager and Burdette.
Ken Swisher, Ripley coach
-on Ripley's hitting success as the game progressed and the key squeeze bunt play.
“As games go on, they just see the ball
a little better, players do and we got the perfect pitch and got it down. It
was just great execution. The kids just did exactly what we asked them to do.”
Chelsey Hager, Ripley junior pitcher
-on keys to her pitching success against SC
“I think the curve ball and rise ball
was working the best. I got them swinging on it a lot.”
-on pitching 11 innings
“It was tough. Sometimes I thought I
couldn’t do it and I just had to dig deeper and deeper.”
Bobby Catlett, South Charleston coach
-on the tough loss
“It stings. We battled, they battled. My
credit to Ripley, they’re moving on. I went and congratulated them and wished
them the best of luck going forward."
“My hat’s off to them and I wish them
the best of luck. I’m proud of my girls. We battled, have a lot of young kids.
There’s a big future ahead, I think, so nothing more you can say than that.”
Alli Burdette, SC senior pitcher
-on end to an impressive career
“It’s rough, but I’ve got things ahead
of me and I’m excited, too.”
-on expectations of game
“I knew it would be a close game, but we
didn’t have our best performance at the plate.”
-on Hager's pitching success
“Chelsey is a really good pitcher. She
kept us off guard and did a good job.”
-on pitching 11 innings
“That was the longest game I’ve had all
year, but you have to work through those things.”
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