SPRING GARDEN – Spring Garden junior pitcher Abbey Steward was on top of her game in the circle, and the Lady Panther offense provided her some early run support in a 4-0 victory over Sand Rock to clinch the Class 2A, Area 12 softball title on Friday.

Steward scattered three hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts to earn the win.

“I just knew if I pitched my hardest my defense would be there, and just trust Coach (Ann) Welsh with what she was calling,” Steward said. “We talked about at practice this week just win this inning and this at-bat. I felt like we did that tonight. I think we had one error, but we recovered from it and we didn’t get down. We’ve been struggling with that in the past, but I feel like our defense just bought in.”

Welsh said Steward “did a great job hitting her spots.”

“They just kept swinging and we just kept moving it. She had control over them,” Welsh said.

The Lady Panthers’ offense also took control early. They scored three first-inning runs off Sand Rock starter Jadyn Foster. The first came on a single to right by shortstop Neely Welsh, then back-to-back doubles by second baseman Ace Austin and first baseman Madison Brown brought in the other two runs for a 3-0 advantage.

Third baseman Kayley Kirk collected a RBI-single to center in the second to push the Lady Panther lead to 4-0.

“It’s a fight with them every inning. We felt like if we won every inning then we’d win the ball game,” Coach Welsh said. “We saw that in the game yesterday. We had several runs early, but you find out that’s not always enough. We’ve talked all year about scoring every inning. We didn’t do that this time, but I felt like we did other things that were supportive, like our defense standing behind Abbey, and us coming in and getting somebody on, and the person behind them backing them up and getting a hit or moving them. I felt like we did better with that tonight.”

The four early runs chased Foster from the circle. EllaGrace Hood came in and turned in a shutdown performance herself the final four innings. However, the Lady Wildcat bats couldn’t string together multiple hits.

“We just couldn’t get enough hits together to break that deficit,” Sand Rock coach Josh Bates said. “EllaGrace did a great job in the circle for us. We just had to try a little something different to change their (Spring Garden’s) eyes. That’s what we wanted to do. She came in and pitched great. She gave us a chance.

“I think Jadyn pitched well too, but they just got on her and got some hits with some people in scoring position. That’s the name of the game. They got the hits early that we didn’t get.”

Several of Sand Rock’s would-be hits were robbed by great Spring Garden defensive plays. Austin made a diving stab on a ball hit sharply in the first inning by Hood. Right fielder Layla Ingram also had a pair of acrobatic catches to rob Rylin St. Clair of potential hits.

Kirk led Spring Garden at the plate with a pair of hits. Steward, Austin and Brown each had a double. Neely Welsh added a single. Brown and Abbie Woods also drew a walk apiece.

Maggie Hester had the only extra-base hit for Sand Rock – a double to left center in the top of the fourth. She also walked in the second. Katelyn St. Clair and Hood had the other two Lady Wildcat hits. Sammi Parker and Lindsey Chambers earned a walk apiece.

Both teams advance to the East Central Regional in Montgomery next week, and both coaches said they wouldn’t be surprised to see each other on the field again.

“I feel like we’re not through seeing Spring Garden,” Bates said. “They’re a quality team and they do a good job putting it in play. Coach Welsh does a good job with them. We’ve just got to come to work. We’ve been there before as runner-up out of our area. we’ll just go to Montgomery and get after it and see what happens.”

“We’re pretty evenly matched,” Coach Welsh said. “I know we’ll probably see them again.”

Sand Rock 22, Gaston 2 (4 innings)

SPRING GARDEN – Sand Rock collected 17 hits and pitchers EllaGrace Hood and Sammi Parker didn’t surrender a hit in a 22-2 Class 2A, Area 12 softball tournament win over Gaston in four innings on Friday.

Katelyn St. Clair led the Lady Wildcats with three hits, three runs and a RBI. Maggie Tinsley went 2-for-4 with a double, three runs and four RBIs. Sherina Foster was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, three runs and a RBI. Parker went 2-for-4 with a run and four RBIs. Briley Knight was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs. Hood had two hits, a run and RBI.

Lily Clanton blasted a three-run homer. Jadyn Foster doubled, drove in a run and scored a run. Lindsey Chambers collected a hit, a walk and three runs. Maggie Hester had a hit, two runs and a RBI.