A one out double in the bottom of the seventh inning by Haley Rogers scored the game winner for the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets softball team.
Fort Mill won 9-8 over the York Cougars to improve to 4-6 on the season. The two teams split the series this season.
“When we first played them, we kind of beat ourselves,” said Fort Mill head softball coach Skyler O’Mara. “Our hitting was more alive tonight. Haley (Rogers) came in clutch in the bottom of the seventh. I am really proud of our pitchers. Each one of our players had a purpose in this game and they contributed.”
York jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the top of the first inning off a couple hits. Brooke Rosario led the bottom of the inning off with a single and made it to third before being left there to end the inning.
The Cougars kept the hits coming in the second inning leading to two more runs after three singles.
Fort Mill struggled to make anything happen offensively despite Rogers getting a single in the second inning.
York continued to pick up runs scoring one in the third inning starting with a double and then aided by a Fort Mill error. The Jackets starter Elaina Hildebrand pitched well, but timely hitting aided the Cougars.
The Jackets led the bottom of the third inning off with consecutive walks to Izzy Zook and Lucy Dillon. Brooke Rosario then drove in Zook on a single to give Fort Mill a run. Elise Nordgren scored Dillon in a sacrifice as the Jackets continued to cut into the York lead. Rosario aggressively stole home with two outs scoring the third run of the inning for Fort Mill.
The Jackets’ Haley Rogers got through the fourth inning without allowing a run in quick fashion for Fort Mill. Hildebrand would go three innings allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits while walking two and striking out six.
Consecutive walks by Emily Poteat and Rogers started the bottom of the fourth inning for the Jackets. Poteat scored on an error later in the inning putting the York lead to just one at 5-4.
A two out double by the Cougars and another Jackets error allowed York to score and give them a small safety net.
Despite this Fort Mill kept chipping away, as both Ella Beebe and Nordgren singled to start the bottom of the fifth. Mallory Moore would drive in Beebe. Poteat walked to load the bases before Rogers sacrifice fly scored Nordgren to tie the game at six. Lexi Verastegui drove in a run on a groundout to give Fort Mill their first lead of the game.
A York dropped third strike pushed the Jackets lead to 8-6.
York didn’t go quiet in the sixth inning scoring after a fifth Fort Mill error in the game allowed a base runner, setting up a sacrifice fly later in the inning. A double by the Cougars tied the game at eight with two outs in the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, an error allowed Moore to reach first as she was replaced with courtesy runner Rachel Hildebrand, who would go on to score the winning run.
Rogers and Rosario each had two hits for Fort Mill and both Rogers and Verastegui each had two RBIs in the game. Rogers got the win on the mound going four innings and allowing three runs on two hits, while walking two and striking out three.
March 18 Roundup
The Fort Mill baseball team beat Clover to open their three-game series 2-1 and improved to 2-2 in Region 3-5A and 3-4 overall on the season.
The Nation Ford baseball team beat Ardrey Kell 7-5 on the road to improve to 7-2 on the season.
The Catawba Ridge baseball team overcame a 7-2 deficit to beat Northwestern 13-7 in game one of their three-game series and improved to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in Region 3-5A.
The Catawba Ridge softball team beat Lexington 13-3 to improve to 7-6 on the season with the help of a seven run fifth inning as Jaidyn Harris drove in five runs.
The Catawba Ridge boys’ golf team improved to 2-0 with a 160-163 win over Clover. Roman Vasicko led with a 39, followed by rounds of 40 from Carter Mitten and Muller Otto. Christian Cook finished with a 41 for the Copperheads.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
