Spring sports state playoffs: Lewisville, Catawba Ridge softball teams post key wins

As the South Carolina High School Association playoffs push through this month, the Rock Hill region has had strong representation. Here is a rundown of most recent playoff activity.

Lewisville softball

Pitcher Sarah Owens hit a walk-off single to right field in the seventh inning to give Lewisville a 1-0 victory over Hannah-Pamplico in Game 1 of the SCHSL Class A Softball State Championship Series Monday afternoon.

The freshman’s one-out hit blooped into right field and got past the Raiders right fielder, allowing sophomore Jordyn Miller to score the game-winning run from second base.

Owens originally planned to bunt, but head coach Jerry Thomas decided against it.

“I said ‘no, we’re going to hit around,’” he said. “We’re not going to do anything to fool them. We’re coming in and we’re coming in with a hit. I said ‘go out there and if you see a pitch, put a good swing on it.’ And that’s what she did.”

Owens also pitched a complete game shutout, navigating through some tough spots, like the sixth inning where Hannah-Pamplico hit a leadoff triple but was unable score.

“I don’t want her to score,” Owens said. “I don’t want to put extra pressure on the offense. I know we already have pressure because we need to score, but if they score, then we have to score even more.”

Owens threw 11 strikeouts in her outing.

Lewisville was to play Hannah-Pamplico Wednesday for a chance at its first softball state championship since 2018.

Catawba Ridge baseball

Catawba Ridge lost 5-3 to North Myrtle Beach in Game 1 of the SCHSL Class 4A Baseball State Championship Series Monday night.

It was a back-and-forth affair with the Chiefs jumping out to a 4-0 lead by midway through the fourth inning.

A three-run homer from Catawba Ridge right fielder Jake McCoy in the bottom of the fourth inning reduced the deficit to 4-3.

Unfortunately, the Copperheads went 0-for-10 at the plate after McCoy’s home run.

“First of all, give (North Myrtle Beach’s pitcher) a lot of credit,” Catawba Ridge head coach Stas Swerdzewski said. “But we had some opportunities early in the ballgame. Something that I preach is ballgames can be lost in the first inning. I’m not saying that we lost in the first inning, but it would’ve been nice to capitalize a little bit on some of those opportunities.

“To win championships, you need timely hits, and we didn’t really have that besides Jake’s home run....”

Catawba Ridge was set to head to North Myrtle Beach Wednesday in Game 2 of the series.

Catawba Ridge softball

Catawba Ridge walked off in extra innings to beat South Florence 7-6 in Game 1 of the SCHSL Class 4A Softball State Championship Series Tuesday night.

The winning play came from centerfielder Sarah Rocheleau with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The sophomore ripped a ground ball to the South Florence third baseman but was able to beat the throw to first. Freshman Jaidyn Harris ran all the way from second on the play to score the winning run for the Copperheads.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Catawba Ridge.

The Region 3-4A champions blew an early 4-0 lead to find themselves trailing 6-5 heading into their last three outs.

However, the Copperheads have been in similar situations before and weren’t scared of the moment.

“That’s exactly what I think helped us in that scenario is being battle tested,” head coach Michael Kidd said. “We’ve been here. We’ve fought. We had two close games with North Augusta getting here. These girls don’t have any quit in them. They got a lot of fight. We left a lot of that fight on the table, but they come alive when they needed to in the end.”

One of the main reasons Catawba Ridge was able to close the door on the game was pitcher Chloe Burger.

Burger pitched a complete game but struggled with command early, as South Florence put 10 batters on base from walks or hit-by-pitches in the first six innings of the game.

However, the USC Upstate commit got settled and finished the game with two scoreless innings, allowing only two baserunners.

“I think she was trying to hold the ball too much,” Kidd said. “She was trying to guide it too much. The last couple innings, she and I talked and I just told her to throw the ball. Whatever happens is going to happen, and you can tell she picked up some speed (after that). The screwball and curveball was cutting a little better. And you could see the at-bats change, and the confidence started coming her way then.”

Burger finished the game with eight strikeouts.

The Copperheads head down to South Florence on Thursday for Game 2 of the series.

This story was originally published May 24, 2023 at 12:36 PM.