Of the 14 area baseball and softball teams that started the playoffs on April 24, only one is still standing after competing in district tournaments.
No disrespect intended to the teams that were eliminated, because they played hard and gave it their best shots, but it should come as no surprise which team is left.
If you guessed Indian Land's softball team, go out and get you a big, greasy cheeseburger for lunch today as your reward. You are right, so go ahead and cheat on that diet. Coming up with the correct answer wasn't that hard.
The Lady Warriors host Fox Creek today at 3 p.m.
"We talked all year long about getting to this point, and we made it our goal to go from here to the state championship,'' Indian Land coach Monica Barfield said. "Our returning players saw what it was like last year to fall short.
"The girls know that when we get to this point it's time to step it up and play as a team. They know, as we coaches do, that one mistake could cost us a championship.''
Since 1996, the Lady Warriors have advanced to the Class A Upper State championship 13 times. They lost in the state championship game the first year, but regrouped and won two straight.
In 1998, the team was full of new faces after graduation wiped out most of the starting lineup. Gone was all-state pitcher Jessica Patterson, who rewrote the state record book that season. She has dropped down on the lists but is still there for most career wins (116, third); most wins in a season (29, tied for sixth); Most strikeouts in a six-inning game (17, tied for 1st) and most strikeouts in a seven-inning game (20, tied for second). She's also only one of four pitchers to toss a seven-inning perfect game in the playoffs.
The Lady Warriors made the Upper State championship again with mostly an eighth-grade team, but lost in the third and deciding game to eventual champion North Central.
The following season, they started a run of seven straight state championships that ended last year with a loss to Landrum in the Upper State championship game.
During the seven-year run, Indian Land set a state record with 40 consecutive playoff victories. It ended in 2005, when Latta took the Lady Warriors to a third game in their best-of-three series, but after losing in the second game, Indian Land won the third.
If Indian Land disposes of Fox Creek today, a familiar foe will be waiting in Monday's winner's bracket game of the double-elimination tournament. McBee and Chesterfield are in the other half of the bracket, and like Indian Land, belong to Region 3-A. Today's losers play an elimination game Monday.
Indian Land and McBee split in the regular season, and the Lady Warriors won the region's top seed in a special playoff game. Both beat Chesterfield twice.
"Having three teams from the same region left out of four in the Upper State says a lot about the level of competition we play against,'' Barfield said. "We know what we are up against, but so do McBee and Chesterfield.
"But no matter who we play the rest of the way, it's going to be tough. The Lower State has improved and it's wide-open right now as to which two teams will play for the state championship.''
| Playoff schedule |
|---|
Class A softball Saturday Fox Creek at Indian Land, 3 p.m. Class AAAA girls soccer Monday Byrnes at Fort Mill, TBA Spartanburg at Clover, 6 p.m. Northwestern at Mauldin, 6 p.m. Nation Ford at Dorman, 7 p.m. Class A girls soccer Greenville Tech at Indian Land, 6 p.m. Class A softball Round 2, TBA Class AAAA boys soccer Tuesday Hillcrest at Northwestern, 8 p.m. Mauldin at Fort Mill, TBA South Pointe at Spartanburg, 6 p.m. Rock Hill at Dorman, TBA Class A boys soccer Lewisville at Indian Land, 6 p.m. Class AAAA boys tennis Fort Mill at Spartanburg, 5 p.m. |
