Tharptown finishes runner-up in Class 2A Area 14 tournament to advance to North Regional

At the Class 2A Area 14 softball tournament, played May 1-2 in Lexington, Tharptown High School (19-17) came away as the runner-up and qualified for the Class 2A North Regional in Florence next week.

After falling to Lindsay Lane Christian Academy in the opening game of the tournament Friday, Tharptown was able to bounce back and eliminate the Lady Lions in the losers bracket Saturday, securing the runner-up spot in the three-team area. The Lady Wildcats were defeated by the host Lexington in the championship later that day.

In Tharptown’s first game of the tournament, the Lady Wildcats were shutout by Lindsay Lane 3-0. The Lady Wildcats couldn’t get anything going offensively against the Lady Lions’ pitcher Charleigh Reding, who threw a no-hitter and was just a hit batter away from a perfect game. Meanwhile, Lindsay Lane plated solo runs in the bottom of the first, fifth and sixth innings to put THS behind the eight-ball early.

The next day, when Tharptown faced Lindsay Lane in an elimination contest (LLCA lost to Lexington 5-4 to drop to the losers bracket), the Lady Wildcats were able to get much more going offensively, outhitting the Lady Lions 14-11 and, despite six THS errors, were able to win by a final of 11-6.

Led by a 4-for-5 day at the plate from leadoff batter and starting pitcher Alyssa Fischer, Tharptown put up runs in every inning but one. The ballgame was tied 2-2 after the first, but the Lady Wildcats were able to strike for two runs in the second, one run in the third, and two more in the fourth to go up 7-2 before Lindsay Lane clawed back a few runs in the home half of the fourth.

Both teams added solo runs in the sixth to make it 8-6 before Tharptown tacked on three insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning. Cadence Kennedy, who pitched the final two innings for THS in relief, took care of Lindsay Lane with help from her defense. THS recorded two groundouts and pop out for the final three outs.

Fischer, Kennedy, Lexi Little, and Natalee Franks all had multi-RBI games for Tharptown at the plate. Little’s RBIs came through her two-run home run in the fourth; Fischer also had a homer, a solo bomb in the sixth that made it 8-5.

In the circle, Fischer tossed five innings and allowed four runs (two earned) off five hits while recording two strikeouts. The reliever Kennedy’s line was two innings and two runs (one earned) allowed off six hits.

Advancing to the championship round after eliminating Lindsay Lane, the Lady Wildcats would need to defeat top-seeded Lexington twice to win the area. Lexington, however, would not allow that to happen, putting together a comeback to win the first meeting 9-5.

Tharptown drew first blood in the contest with a four-run third inning. Kennedy opened the scoring with a one-out solo home run to center field before a walk and single put a runner in scoring position for Allie Gann to drive in—that made it 2-0. An error by Lexington’s catcher allowed Bella Carr to score from third base to make it 3-0, and then Jayden Partain rounded out THS’ scoring in the inning with an RBI single to right field that scored Gann.

The hosts responded to Tharptown’s advantage starting in the next inning. The Lady Bears scored a flurry of runs over their next three at-bats, plating three runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and a final four in the sixth to go up by the final 9-5. Tharptown’s final run of the game was scored in the fifth on a lead-off home run by Gabi Johnson.

At the dish, Partain and Kennedy combined for four of Tharptown’s seven hits in the game. In the circle, Kennedy got the start and went three complete innings before being relieved by Fischer, who took the loss. Kennedy allowed three runs (one earned) off three hits and struck out four batters in the outing; Fischer pitched the final three innings, allowing six runs (four earned) off seven hits.

At the conclusion of the area tournament, Fischer, Little, Johnson, and Partain were all named to the Area 14 All-Tournament Team.

Though the Lady Wildcats came up short up in their goal of winning the area championship, the second-place finish clinched them a spot in the regional tournament at the Florence Sportsplex May 13-14. Tharptown’s first game is scheduled for May 13 at 10:45 a.m.