3A SOFTBALL: Defending champ Enka defeats CBA in opener

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on June 5, 2016 1:47 AM

• Print
• Email

jhayes@newsargus.com

GREENSBORO -- It was difficult to watch.

Charles B. Aycock surrendered a brutal, four-run seventh inning to defending state champion Enka on Friday night and fell 8-6 in Game 1 of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A softball championship series at UNCG Softball Stadium.

From the outset, the opener was breathless.

Following a 1-2-3 top half by starter Allie Phillips, Aycock used its speed and newly-formed measure of small ball to get moving offensively. The powder blues reached Mookie Powell, then crossed the speedster on a botched sacrifice by Hannah Vinson.

Powell scored on a fielder's choice to put CBA head 2-0.

Phillips' solid start encountered trouble, however, in the second and third innings. The lefty allowed four runs on as many hits over the two frames, including a titanic, two-run homer by Addison Harris in the third -- part of Harris' 2-for-3, 3-RBI effort on the night.

"Allie threw well," skipper Lavon Matthews said. "(She) just got behind a couple batters, and that got her in trouble."

Not that all was lost, however.

Post-blast, Phillips settled nicely in the circle, employing a variety of pitches and her trademark toughness to retire 13 consecutive Enka batters during a stretch of 3 2/3 innings. In all, the Pitt Community College signee allowed eight runs on nine hits, and walked just one.

During that same span, the Aycock offense struggled to form any real substance -- due in large part to the brilliant defensive play of Enka's Harris.

Twice she victimized the powder blues with inning-ending, unassisted double plays at first base. Her last -- a sixth-inning snare of an Abbie Walton liner and subsequent force of Mackenzie Wheeler -- stifled a blossoming rally and set the stage for Enka's back-breaking seventh frame.

With two out, Phillips surrendered three consecutive singles -- the last which plated Whitney Fletcher and gave Enka a 5-3 lead. And following RBI hits from Kloyee Anderson, Claire Crout and Harris, Matthews pulled his embattled senior.

"When you're behind have to throw strikes," the coach noted. "They sit on their pitch."

Appearing in relief of Phillips, junior Allison Shingleton induced a quick, 1-3 putout that took Aycock to the bottom half of its evening.

Connor Vinson reached from her lead-off spot, allowing Mookie Powell to begin a Golden Falcons' rally in earnest. The junior, whose playoff star-turn seemingly has no end, plated Vinson on a tape-measure bomb to the wall in right field. Powell scored moments later on a fielder's choice by Taylor Puetz, trimming the Enka advantage to just three runs and providing a glimmer of hope amongst Aycock enthusiasts.

Ultimately, it wasn't to be.

Jets' starter Courtney Pearson ended matters succinctly, retiring three Aycock batters in hurried fashion to cap an up-and-down, complete-game triumph. On the night, the Queens University-Charlotte signee allowed six runs on nine hits, walked none and booked a lone strikeout.

For Aycock, its game one loss can perhaps be crystallized in one bitter sugar capsule -- runs allowed with two outs. Enka plated six in such fashion on Friday, and in the process, moved one game away from its second consecutive 3-A state crown.

But not if the Pikeville nine has its say.

"They've still got to beat us twice," Matthews said. "They don't beat us the first game tomorrow (Saturday), then all the pressure's on them."