Nation Ford clinches playoff berth, hits the road
The Nation Ford High School Falcons softball team dropped two straight games at home, but still clinched third in Region IV-5A locking up a road game in the playoffs which start this week.
The Falcons fell to Chester on Senior Night 4-3 and then to rival Fort Mill 5-1 the next day. Against Chester, the Falcons were down early 1-0 to open the first inning, but came back in the bottom of the first to tie the game up at 1-1.
Nation Ford leadoff hitter Katie Stahl doubled to start the bottom of the first inning off and was moved over to third by a single from Chanel Turner. Darby Trull was then hit by a pitch to load the bases and two batters later Jordyn Williams walked, allowing Stahl to score and tie the game.
The Cyclones had two more big innings in them, with the first coming in the third when they scored two runs on back-to-back doubles to go up 3-1. Nation Ford kept the fight up, scoring a run in the bottom of the third without the help of a hit as an error allowed Trull to cross the plate after reaching on a fielder’s choice.
Turning point
While Nation Ford struggled to tie the game, Chester made things even harder in the seventh inning with a solo home run from Zoe Mapp-Brown to make it 4-2. The one-run insurance policy was enough as the Falcons scored another run in the bottom of the inning, which would have tied the game. Stahl was able to score Alyssa Illacqua on a sacrifice fly after Illacqua singled to lead off the bottom of the inning.
Critical
Nation Ford gave up three unearned runs out of the four Chester scored. The Falcons’ hitting was decent, but the Chester defense was even better.
“We hit the ball well,” said head coach Michael Kidd. “It was just right at them. It comes down to making plays and we didn’t.”
Star contributions
Turner went 3-3 for Nation Ford and Illacqua went 2-3 at the plate. Stahl went 1-4 with a double as well.
On deck
Nation Ford will play York this week in a non-region game and then open the playoffs on Thursday on the road.
Mac Banks: mbanks@comporium.net, @MacBanksFM
Box score
Chester 4, Nation Ford 3
Chester 1;0;2; 0;0;0; 1;-4;10;1
Nation Ford 1;0;1; 0;0;0; 1;-3;7;1
SCORING SUMMARY
Leading hitters – Chanel Turner 3-3, Alyssa Illacqua 2-3, Katie Stahl 1-4 double
Records
Nation Ford 15-11
This story was originally published April 22, 2017 at 8:29 PM with the headline "Nation Ford clinches playoff berth, hits the road."