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Holcomb, Campbell, Risco, South Pemiscot advance in C1D1 Softball Tourney
HOLCOMB – After North Pemiscot and Clarkton bowed out of the Class 1 District 1 softball tournament, what followed was an offensive onslaught as fifth-seeded Campbell upset fourth-seeded Gideon 25-12, then third-seeded South Pemiscot took down sixth-seeded Cooter 15-0 and second-seeded Risco cruised past seventh-seeded Delta C-7 20-0.
In Monday's semifinal matchups, No. 1 Holcomb takes on Campbell at 3 p.m., and Risco takes on South Pemiscot at 4:30 p.m.
Campbell 25, Gideon 12
It took Campbell six innings to win by run rule Saturday, but the Camels quickly pulled ahead 6-1 after the bottom of the second inning as Hartlee Wills, Ava Baggett, Kamryn Weeks and McKenzie Sevier all found home plate early on. Wills also started in the circle for Campbell.
“We're feeling pretty good,” Campbell coach Cheryl Umfress said. “Our pitching staff struggled a little bit, but we came out and got quite a few hard hits today. We played hard, and we played good. I'm proud of them.”
Gideon gained traction in the bottom of the second inning to tie the ballgame 6-6 and pulled away 7-6 in the bottom of the third.
Campbell's Wills stole home in the top of the fourth to tie, then the Camels continued to pour it on to take a resounding 13-7 advantage. Leading 13-9 entering the sixth inning, Sevier singled home Chloe Matthews to kickstart an inning that netted the Camels 12 runs.
“My freshmen today really stepped up at the bottom of the lineup,” Umfress said. “They hit real well, and we're looking good right now.”
Gideon's Jaelyn Smith, Mikayla Skinner and Lorelei Williams all scored in the bottom of the sixth, but it wasn't enough to prevent the game from ending early.
Campbell's semifinal appearance will be a chance for redemption after falling to Holcomb 2-17 in April.
“Holcomb's ranked in the state; they've got good hitters and fielders all the way around,” Umfress said. “It's going to be a tough one, but we'll play all out and hopefully we can stay with them and then maybe win it. We're looking forward to it.”
South Pemiscot 15, Cooter 0
South Pemiscot wasted no time in securing their semifinal appearance. The Bulldogs held Cooter scoreless in three innings while scoring 15 of their own.
“We played good, like we've been capable of,” South Pemiscot coach Lance Crawford said. “We needed to play like that in that game, and we'll have to in the next one. We try to always take advantage. The big thing is we want to be confident. We have one senior and one junior that plays, so getting them used to playing and being confident is big.”
Ayleighonna Farmer, Phoenix Simmons, Abigail Edwards, Mataiya Phillips and Mia Gonzalez all scored in the first inning before Farmer made it around the lineup to hit an in the park home run which brought the Bulldogs' advantage to 9-0.
Two strikeouts by South Pemiscot starting pitcher Abigail Edwards and a caught pop fly took the Bulldogs right back to bat, but the second inning went by scoreless.
“Our pitcher, Abigail, when she hits her spots it's hard for teams to put the ball in play,” Crawford said. “That's what happened today, and they only had a couple base runners.”
Simmons doubled home Gracyn Trammel to start the bottom of the third, then Edwards made it to third base and brought home Felix Martinez and Berta Gamez.
Gamez, Mataiya Phillips and Jayleigh Leathers all scored once more to bring the score 15-0.
South Pemiscot played Risco last Thursday and fell to the Tigers 3-9. This time around, Crawford is hopeful it will be a different outcome.
“We feel confident,” Crawford said. “We just played Risco, and it was a good game. We made some errors and they got ahead of us, but if not for that it would be a one-run game. So we expect that to be a good game.”
Risco 20, Delta C-7 0
Risco posted 20 runs in two innings to take down Delta C-7 after the top of the third inning.
“We came in and took care of what we needed to,” Risco coach Justin Earnheart said. “We hit, ran bases well and Stephens was as perfect as you can get without having a perfect game.”
After Risco starting pitcher Carlie Stephens managed three strikeouts to start the game, Aubrey White was the first on base after being walked by Delta C-7 pitcher Pacey Medley.
Ashlynn Presley was walked right after, but never stopped and turned it into a double. Following through and capitalizing on every opportunity, Aubrey White, Ashlynn Presley, Jaelynn Presley, Lydia Albritton, Landri Baker, Carlie Stephens, Aliyah Rojas all scored by the end of the first inning.
“We just wanted to take care of business and get some momentum going into Monday against South Pem,” Earnheart said.
Two more strikeouts and a player out at first led them back to the plate.
Offensively, the Tigers were led by Aubrey White with four runs and two RBIs. Jaelynn Presley and Albritton both racked up three runs while Ashlynn and Avery Presley, Landri Baker and Aliyah Rojas all contributed two.
If victorious, Monday's semifinal against South Pemiscot will take the Tigers to their third-straight finals, although they've yet to claim the championship.
“They're aggressive and run the bases well,” Earnheart said. “They're going to bring it, and this time of year the teams that are in their district semifinals and finals are there for a reason. Everybody's 0-0 and Monday you have to go 1-0 again.”