Extra inning loss to Cambridge ends Lady Canes playoff run
Cartersville softball was eliminated from the GHSA Class 5A Final Eight Championship Tournament in Columbus Thursday night following a 5-4, ten-inning loss to the Cambridge Bears.
Lady Canes freshman pitcher Zoie Shiflett worked all ten innings in the circle for the Purple Hurricanes and suffered the tough-luck pitching loss without allowing an earned run. She allowed ten hits and two walks while the Cartersville defense committed seven errors.
Cartersville led 1-0 through 4-½ innings on a Shiflett sacrifice fly. Cartersville’s Jordan Bishop and Kennedy Crenshaw later hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fifth to give the Lady Canes a 4-0 lead but Cambridge did not fade.
The Bears took advantage of an infield error and scored one run on an RBI single in the top of the sixth to narrow their deficit to 4-1. They then added three more runs in the top of the seventh inning to knot the score at 4-4. Two base hits and a pair of Hurricanes infield errors produced the Lady Bears’ unearned runs in the seventh and sent the contest into extra innings.
Following a scoreless eighth inning, the Canes had their best chance of extra innings in the ninth when they loaded the bases with two outs but failed to score.
Beginning in the tenth inning by rule, each team begins the inning with a base runner at second base.
Cambridge scored in their half of the tenth on a one-out, RBI single to go ahead 5-4. The Bears then loaded the bases again before Shiflett escaped the additional threat with a popup and a groundout.
Cartersville failed to score in its half of the tenth inning and their historic season had come to an end.
The Bears improved to 20-10 on the year and advanced to another elimination game Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. against Northgate.
The Lady Canes, who qualified for the Final Eight for the first time in school history, had their season end with a second consecutive Region 7-5A championship and a 21-11 mark.
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