Tattnall Square slips past Darlington
With the fourth-seeded team hosting the fifth seed, the games should be close.
They were Wednesday at Tattnall Square.
And the Trojans did just enough to advance in the GHSA Class 1A private school softball playoffs, edging Darlington.
Tattnall won the first game 4-3 as Ashleigh Morton brought home the game-winning run with a two-out single to right field in the seventh inning to score Kelly Collins.
Darlington rebounded to lead the second game 5-4 going into the seventh, highlighted by a sixth-inning solo home run from Caroline Dingler.
But Tattnall scratched for two runs in the inning and then got a huge double play with no outs and runners on second and third in the bottom half to hold on for a 6-5 win.
Five who mattered
Morton: The Trojans’ starting pitcher pitched two complete games in addition to getting the game-winning hit in the opener.
Allie Gordon: Gordon went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in each game to power the Tattnall offense.
Carley Ingle/Kenna Epps: Ingle went 2-for-4 in the first game, while Epps went 3-for-4 as the Trojans finished with 11 hits.
Jaelyn Darley: Darley had a three-run double right by the third-base bag for a 4-3 lead in second inning of the second game.
Observations
Close play at the plate: In the fourth inning of the first game with Darlington leading 2-1, Darley lifted a sacrifice fly to Darlington left fielder Josi McKibbin. Epps raced home from third, but a strong throw to the plate from McKibbin appeared to gun Epps down. Epps, however, was called safe, tying the score at 2.
Another play at the plate: In the seventh inning of the second game, Gordon doubled to score Logan Faulk. Faulk originally was called out, but the Darlington catcher was called for interference after an umpire conference, allowing Faulk to score the tying run.
Coming through in the clutch: In the bottom of the seventh inning of the second game, Darlington got runners on second and third with no outs, but the Trojans got out of it. They got the first two outs when Ingle caught a line drive at second base and flipped to Darley, who was covering the second-base bag. Morton forced a fly ball to right field for the final out.
Worth mentioning
Back to Columbus: The Trojans are heading to Columbus for the Elite Eight for the third straight year.
They said it
Tattnall head coach Joey Hiller on the two wins: “Hats off to the Darlington School. They came in here really focused and ready to play. They were a really good team. I don’t know that our girls were expecting them to be as competitive as they were, but that’s one of the better teams we’ve played all year.”
Morton on another trip to Columbus after the two wins: “We’re very excited. We were kind of nervous before this series because we weren’t really sure how the team was. Winning those two games was so exciting, and we just had to play as a team and get some hits.”
Hiller on going back to Columbus: “We want to do a little better than we did the past two years, and I’m just happy we have some more time with them this year to work and get better.”
What’s next?
Tattnall faces Stratford in Columbus in the Class 1A private school quarterfinals.
This story was originally published October 19, 2016 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Tattnall Square slips past Darlington."