State bound: Lexington softball routs Summerville, earns spot in championship series
Led by an experienced group of seniors, the Lexington softball team is headed back to the state championship series.
The Wildcats belted three home runs and used a big fourth inning to defeat the Green Wave, 12-3, on Friday in the Class 5A Lower State championship game. Lexington advances to next week’s best-of-three state championship series at Fort Mill on Monday.
Game 2 of the series is at Lexington on Wednesday and a third game, if necessary, is May 27 at a neutral site.
It is Lexington’s first championship appearance since winning it all in 2019. Several of the seniors on this year’s squad were on that championship team.
“They wanted this game, and they know what it is like to play for a state championship. Their goal was to make it back, and the seniors led the way all season,” Lexington coach Laurie Epps said. “And everyone got on board with them, started putting the ball in play and good things happened.”
And Epps is ready to enjoy her team’s moment going into the final week of the season. She made it a point to enjoy this last ride with her seniors during the postseason journey.
“They have been through a lot with us, and I couldn’t be happier with them,” Epps said. “I would love to send this senior class out with a state championship. But we are going to focus on one pitch at a time and, hopefully, it will go our way.”
There was no controversial ending this time around for the Wildcats against Summerville.
Friday was the third time Lexington and Summerville played against each other this week. The Wildcats appeared to win, 6-5, on Monday night on a Livi Warren home run.
But Summerville played the game under protest. The Green Wave attempted to pinch-hit for a flex player with two outs in the top of the eighth inning and the score tied 5-5. The umpires did not allow the move, and the Green Wave played the end of the game in protest.
The S.C. High School League upheld Summerville’s protest, which affirmed that the umpires made the wrong decision to not allow the pinch-hitter. The two teams finished the game Tuesday evening with Lexington winning, 6-5, in nine innings and sent Summerville to the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination bracket
The Green Wave won an elimination game against Chapin on Wednesday to earn another trip back to Lexington.
Summerville bounced back from a shaky start and 3-0 deficit to tie it with three runs in the top of the fourth. Melanie Edwards had a two-run homer off the top of the fence in the inning.
But Lexington responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning to take an 8-3 lead. With two on, Summerville intentionally walked Jessica Senn, who homered earlier in the game to load the bases. Senn was intentionally walked six times against the Green Wave.
Riley Ford made sure the strategy backfired with a two-run single up the middle to put Lexington up 5-3.
“When I have base runners on, I change my mentality and not going for a home run or something special,” Ford said. “I just want to get one out of the infield and move runners around.”
MacKenziie Mathis, the next batter, showed the Wildcats’ power-hitting ability by belting a three-run homer to make it 8-3 after four innings. Lexington has hit 41 home runs this season.
“We see the ball well. We really do,” Mathis said of the team’s power-hitting ability
Lexington added four more runs in the fifth, two coming on pinch-hitter Peyton Baker’s two-run homer and the other two on Ford’s two-run single.
Mathis picked up the win, tossing her first complete game of the season. The right-hander had wrist surgery in the offseason but is getting better as the season has gone along. She allowed three earned runs on five hits while striking out four and only walking one.
“I’m happy to be back. It took a while but I’m back, and we are ready to go to state,” Mathis said.
WP: Mackenzie Mathis. LP: Hope Chase. Hitters: S: Melanie Edwards 1-3 HR, 2 RBI. L: Jessica Senn 1-2 HR, 2 RBI; Riley Ford 3-4 4 RBI; Peyton Baker 1-1 HR, 2 RBI; Maggie Hinz 2-2.
This story was originally published May 20, 2022 at 8:44 PM.
