CHESTERFIELD -- In a game that took two days to play, quiet bats and a mental mistake cost the Indian Land Lady Warriors softball team.
Indian Land lost to Chesterfield 1-0 Tuesday evening in the Upper State tournament semifinals, moving them to the consolation bracket to face McBee at 6 p.m. today at home. Another loss puts Indian Land out of the playoffs.
Coming into the game, Indian Land swept the season series with Chesterfield, winning both games by large margins, 6-0 and 8-1. The win was big for Chesterfield as it put the Lady Rams in the Upper State title game Friday against the winner of McBee/Indian Land. Last year was the first time that Chesterfield made it to the Upper State playoffs in 24 years and now to be in the finals, coach Freddy Gaskins was beaming.
"The was one of the biggest wins in our program," he said. "We are playing our best ball now."
The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the ninth inning, when a mental mistake by Indian Land second baseman Emily Jowers allowed the winning run to score.
Playing under the international extra inning rule where a runner starts the inning on second base, Chesterfield's Christian Stokes sacrifice bunted over base runner Emily Smith to third.
With one out and Smith threatening at third, Kelly King hit a ground ball to Jowers, who threw to first to get the out, instead of home which allowed Smith to score easily.
"Our backs are up against the wall now," said Indian Land coach Monica Barfield. "Right now, our bats are dead. We have to do something. We have to come out and play with heart."
Barfield didn't blame her second baseman for the mental mistake, but said the Lady Warriors shouldn't have been in that situation to begin with.
Defensively, Indian Land played soundly. However, it was Indian Land's bats that sputtered as they got just five hits in the game.
The game started on Monday evening before the rains came and forced it to be stopped in the top of the fifth inning. Chesterfield threaten early as it got two of its three hits in the first inning when Smith singled to start the game and King doubled two batters later.
But Indian Land's pitcher Kristin Campbell got out of the jam and set things on cruise control before the game was halted. Restarting some 23 hours and 45 minutes later, both teams picked right back up as Campbell and Chesterfield pitcher Kerri Jackson went through the heart of the line up with ease.
Barfield said she feels having to come to Chesterfield two straight days wore on her team.
"Having to make two long trips like that is mentally draining," she said.
Indian Land threatened in the top of the sixth as Paige Brugh singled with two outs. Kimber Coley followed with a double, but Brugh was thrown out at home while trying to score.
In the bottom of the ninth, Coley was brought in to pitch, taking over for Campbell, who went eight strong innings allowing just three hits and walking one while striking out eight.
At Chesterfield
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