By T. Scott Boatright
Sometimes a sports team’s mascot can exactly fit the way it plays..
That was the case for the Cedar Creek Lady Cougars in opening round play of the Division IV state softball playoffs.
The Lady Cougars slowly but surely scratched and clawed their way out of an early hole they found themselves in Tuesday night to rally for a 10-5 home win over St. Mary’s.
St. Mary’s, the 13th-seed in Division IV, came out swinging, as the Lady Tigers plated a pair of runs off of two hits and an error to jump out on top 2-0.
Allie Furr led off the bottom of the first with a double for the sixth-seeded Lady Cougars, but Cedar Creek’s next three batters combined for a pair of flyouts and a strikeout to end the inning.
The Lady Tigers were back at it in the top of the second stanza, scoring two more runs off of two hits and an error to build a 4-0 lead. Cedar Creek coach Julie Riser took a trip to the bump to have pitcher Chloe Brasher and third baseman Lizzie McAdams trade positions.
McAdams came in and forced an unassisted groundout to first base to move to the bottom of the second.
“I felt like Chloe was doing well,” Riser said. “She was hitting the spots and pitching well. They just came out and were on her. They started off hot at the plate. I told her she was doing fine and that I wasn’t mad, but we were going to make a change. Just change things up and see if it works. And it did.”
After the first out in the bottom of the second inning, Brasher and catcher Ellie Dickerson both singled. But a flyout to centerfield followed by the centerfielder firing the ball in time to third base for the putout quickly ended the inning for the Lady Cougars.
St. Mary’s built a 5-0 advantage with a run off of two hits in the top of the third before the Lady Cougars slowly started roaring to life.
Anna Grace Lee and Furr both singled to lead off the Lady Cougars’ bottom half of the stanza before both were plated on a two-RBI double by Lillian Soto.
After McAdams put a zero on the scoreboard for St. Mary’s in the next frame, the Lady Cougars went back to work.
Dickerson led off by reaching base on an error, but was put out unassisted at second on a fielder’s choice by Muse. Lee followed Muse with a walk to put a pair of Cedar Creek baserunners in scoring position before a two-out double from Soto pushed both across the plate as the Lady Cougars cut the St. Mary’s lead to 5-4 after four innings.
After McAdams set St. Mary’s down in order in the top of the fifth inning, Cedar Creek added two more runs off of one hit and two St. Mary’s errors to move out on top 6-5 heading into the top of the sixth.
Brasher picked up an RBI for Cedar Creek in the fifth before adding another in the sixth on a single as the Lady Cougars pushed across four runs off of six hits to build the 10-5 advantage.
“She works hard,” Riser said about Brasher’s offensive showing against St. Mary’s. “She works hard at all phases, whatever she’s doing. And she’s a good hitter. We worked this week on her hitting and skill things. She’s just seeing it well right now, and that helps.”
Riser said the win was all about her Lady Cougars settling down and playing their game despite the early deficit.
“I think when we got down early, we started thinking that we have to hit, hit, hit,” Riser said. “And that was overthinking it. It was still early. The first inning they were up there trying too hard and swinging at pitches we don’t usually swing at. I just kept telling them, ‘I don’t know what to say other than just hang in there. Things will turn around. Keep battling and we’re going to get it. You just have to find a way.’ And they did.”
Cedar Creek (18-5), will next play at third-seeded Riverside Academy, which defeated 14th-seeded Ouachita Christian 14-4 Tuesday night.
