Strong pitching from starter Maddie Drerup helped to propel the Fort Mill softball team to the Region 3-5A title Thursday evening with a 5-2 win over the Clover Blue Eagles.
Drerup pitched a complete game and allowed just four hits and two runs while striking out six batters.
“She did a great job,” said Fort Mill head coach Chuck Stegall. “She is a player.”
Not only was Fort Mill’s pitching zoned in, but their hitting was as well as they got nine hits in the game. Emma Tisdale and Ally Hall each went 2-3 to lead the Jackets’ offense. Fort Mill picked up a run in the first inning as Brynn Bartolini led the game off with a hit and then scored three batters later as Tisdale, a UNC-Charlotte commit, drove her in on a single.
That one run lead was all Fort Mill could put forth for the first three innings until in the fourth they scored another run on two hits with Trinity Wall singling to get on base, followed by a single from Ally Hall. Wall would then score on a fielder’s choice from Trista Reid to make it 2-0.
The momentum really started going Fort Mill’s way in the fifth as Ava Balsinger hit a one-out solo home run to right center field to bring the Jackets’ bench to its feet.
“From top to bottom we hit the ball well,” Stegall said. “Ava has been hot lately.”
That helped to carry Fort Mill into the sixth inning, where they would add two more runs on three hits with doubles coming off the bats of Tisdale and Reid and a single from Hall to left field which allowed Tisdale to score when the Clover left fielder misplayed the ball. Reid would then knock in Hall to give Fort Mill a comfortable 5-0 lead.
In the top of the seventh, Drerup had a little hiccup regarding her pitching, but nothing her defense wasn’t able to help her out of. She gave up two runs on two hits before getting out of the jam and completing the game.
Fort Mill improves to 11-3 with the win and 6-1 in Region 3-5A with one more region game to go next week against Gaffney.
Soccer
The Catawba Ridge girls’ soccer team ended their regular season with a 9-0 win over Irmo in non-region action. The Copperheads finish the regular season at 12-1 and will open the first round of the playoffs next week.
Baseball
Catawba Ridge took the season series against Clover winning 7-6 in extra innings as a walk-off hit by Tyler Levy sealed the deal for the Copperheads as they improved to 15-6-1 overall. They are next scheduled to play Fort Mill May 3 at Fort Mill High.
Golf
Fort Mill finished the regular season with a win over Gaffney to finish at 14-1. Fort Mill shot a 145 and Gaffney shot a 164. The Jackets were led by a 34 from Griffin Tarver, followed by a 35 from Bryce Wittmer and a pair of 38s from Cam Baker and Keegan Brown.
On Wednesday, Fort Mill dropped its first match of the season losing to Boiling Springs in a tri-match, but beating Nation Ford. Boiling Springs shot a 139 on their home course compared to a 148 from Fort Mill and a 172 from Nation Ford. Fort Mill was led by a 33 from Tarver, a 37 from Erik Zeppelin, a 38 from Brown and a 40 from Alex Martin. Nation Ford was led by a 35 from Gabe Schmitz, followed by a 40 from Ben Mills, a 47 from Justin Wosje and a 50 from Colby McCaskill.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
