Cass splits state playoff doubleheader at Chapel Hill, deciding game Tuesday
Third-seeded Cass split a doubleheader with Chapel Hill Monday night in Douglasville to force a rubber game Tuesday at 5:55 p.m. back at the Panthers’ home field. Cass took the opening game in the best-of-three, Class AAAAA state playoff series 15-5 before Chapel Hill won Game 2, 13-7.
GAME 1: Cass 15, Chapel Hill 5
In a game that went back-and-forth, Chapel Hill took a 3-1 lead through three innings Monday night before Cass erupted for 14 runs over the final four frames for a 15-5 win.
Ansley Hight put Cass up 1-0 in the top of the first inning with an RBI single that scored Alexis Woods. Woods had singled to start the frame. Ashley Hammond hit a three-run home run for Chapel Hill in the bottom of the second that gave the host Panthers an early 3-1 advantage.
Savannah Tatum smacked a two-RBI single that knotted the score at 3-3 in the fourth.
Chapel Hill regained a 4-3 lead in the next inning following a single, two walks, and a wild pitch, but Kendyl Hardin hit a two-run home run for Cass in the top of the fifth to give the Colonels a 5-4 lead.
Nadia Barbary homered for the Panthers in the bottom of the fifth to tie the score once again, 5-5.
In the top of the sixth, Cass broke the game open by plating seven runs. The Colonels had six consecutive hits (five singles and a double) to start the inning. That was followed by a pair of walks, an infield error and another single as Cass sent 13 to the plate in the frame.
Cass added three more runs in the top of the seventh. A pair of singles by Hight and Hardin started the inning, then two walks and three hit batsmen generated the bonus runs.
Rachael Lee (7 IP, 5ER, 6H, 8BB, 3K) worked scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh although the Panthers loaded the bases in both frames.
Hardin and Hight had three hits each. Hardin had a double, home run, and three RBIs. Hight also finished with three RBIs. Woods and Rachael Lee had two hits and two RBIs each. Eryn Lee had two hits and one RBI. Tatum finished with a hit and two RBIs. Kelly Young contributed a hit and one RBI.
Game 2: Chapel Hill 13, Cass 7
The host Panthers bounced back from their Game 1 defeat by scoring in every inning except the sixth to force a deciding game Tuesday.
Chapel Hill led 5-0 after one inning and was ahead 9-0 in the third. Cass scored four times in the bottom of the third to narrow the margin to 9-4, but the Panthers added three more runs over the next two frames to lead 12-6 through five. Cass scored twice in the fourth inning and added a run in the bottom of the sixth but got no closer than 12-7.
Rachael Lee had two hits including a double and two RBIs for Cass. Alexis Woods and Eryn Lee both drove in runs. Haylee Dishmon added a hit.
Chapel Hill pounded out 16 hits in the contest. Seven of those hits and seven RBIs came off the bats of Rylie Moody and Kassidy Amerson-Fox.
Chapel Hill is 16-11 heading into Tuesday’s third game of the series. Cass is 17-13. The winner will advance to the second round against Walnut Grove. The Warriors swept Decatur in the first round Monday night 15-0 and 8-0.
