South Central softball won its third consecutive Regional Championship with a 6-0 win over Red Hill behind an 18-hit effort from the lineup and a no-hitter from senior Taegan Webster on the mound. South Central allowed two baserunners in the top of the first inning on a dropped 3rd strike that went back to the screen and then a fielder’s choice, but held the Salukis scoreless. The Cougars got themselves on the board in the bottom of the first as a groundout by Lauren Johnson scored Kyra Swift from third to put South Central up 1-0. After a three up, three down top of the second, the Cougars got two runners into scoring position with one out, but both were stranded on base to end the inning. The Salukis would go down one, two, three in the top of the third and in the bottom half of the inning, Webster drilled a one out shot over the fence for a home run and to push the Cougar lead to 2-0. Red Hill got their second hitter of the fourth inning on base, but that runner was thrown out trying to steal by catcher Amelia Montes and the Salukis ended the inning still scoreless. South Central put a pair of runners on in the bottom of the fourth, but would run into a couple outs on the basepaths and be held scoreless in the inning and their lead would remain at 2-0. The top of the fifth inning would be just seven pitches long as the Cougars were able to get Red Hill out quickly on a line out, ground out and strikeout and get themselves back to the plate. After a leadoff double by Webster, Johnson singled to centerfield to score Webster and edge the Cougar lead to 3-0. With two outs, Zoey Feldhake and Perci Reid hit back to back singles to load the bases and Abi Shuler hit a line drive to left field to score Johnson and Feldhake as the Cougar lead grew to 5-0. Red Hill again went down one, two, three in the top of the sixth before South Central came calling again, leading off the bottom of the sixth with a double by Kaitlyn Swift followed by a RBI singled by Webster to push the South Central lead to 6-0. That would be it for the Cougar scoring in the game as they would two runners on base to end the sixth and then hold the Salukis scoreless in the top of the seventh to put away the 6-0 win and collect their third straight Regional Championship and the fifth in program history. Webster went al seven innings on the mound for the Cougars allowing no hits or runs and giving up just one walk while striking out nine. Webster also went a perfect 4-4 at the plate with a home run and 2 RBI while Reid went a perfect 3-3 at the plate. All nine batters in the Cougar lineup would contribute at least one hit in the 18-hit win as South Central improves to 24-11 on the season and earned a spot in the Altamont Sectional. In the Sectional Semifinal on Wednesday at 4:00pm at Altamont, the Cougars will play the winner of the Hutsonville Regional with that champion being determined today by today’s Championship game between Altamont and WSS.
South Central Offense:
Kyra Swift – 2-4, R
Kaitlyn Swift – 2-4, R
Taegan Webster – 4-4, Home Run, 2 R, 2 RBI
Lauren Johnson – 2-4, R, 2 RBI
Amelia Montes – 1-4
Kinlee Thompson – 1-4
Zoey Feldhake – 2-4, R
Perci Reid – 3-3
Abi Shuler – 1-3, 2 RBI