Spring Garden has never had a team reach the AHSAA state fast-pitch softball tournament. All that will change at 9 o’clock Thursday morning when the Panthers (22-9) play Millry in the first round of the Class 1A double elimination tournament at Montgomery. “That was the best we’ve hit all year up and down the lineup,” said Spring Garden coach Ann Welsh after the Panthers defeated visiting Waterloo 5-1 and 7-2 on Friday to advance to the state tournament.
Waterloo took an early 1-0 lead in the third inning of the opener. Welsh said later that Friday’s turning point came in the home half of the fifth inning. With a runner on first, senior Bridget Parris blasted a home run that cleared the 210-foot left field fence by another 10 feet.
“She smacked it pretty hard,” said Shelton. “It just kept going. It never lost any velocity. I think that just turned things around that day.”
The Panthers scored three insurance runs in the sixth. Singles by Bree Blevins, Harley Bonds and Tara Mullinax loaded the bases with two out and seventh-grader Heather Smart belted a triple.
Blevins had three hits. Bonds, Smart and Lindsey Lambert all had two hits.
Blevins pitched all seven innings. She allowed six hits, walked four and struck out five.
“We played great defense,” noted Welsh.
In the second game, Spring Garden was the visiting team. The Panthers took the lead immediately with three runs in the first inning. Parris singled to lead off and scored on a sacrifice fly by Breanna Messer. With two outs and the bases empty, Blevins was hit by a pitch. Then Spring Garden – with only one homer during the whole season before Friday – got its second long ball of the day when Bonds pounded the ball over the fence in left.
Waterloo touched Blevins for two runs in the bottom of the first. The Panthers increased their lead in the fourth when Jordan Sides tripled to score Smart and Parris.
Spring Garden added one more run in the sixth and one in the seventh. Parris opened the sixth with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Blevins. With one out in the seventh, Mullinax tripled and scored on a fly ball by Carly Mitchell.
In the nightcap, seven Panthers – Parris, Sides, Bonds, Lambert, Mullinax, Mitchell and Smart – all had two hits.
Blevins again pitched all seven innings. She gave up nine hits and one walk and struck out five. Two of her five strikeouts came in the seventh inning.
Spring Garden advanced to the second round of sub-state play by sweeping Jefferson Christian 8-2 and 4-0 Tuesday at Spring Garden. Blevins, a freshman, tossed a pair of 7-inning complete games, allowing one earned run. She struck out 11, allowed seven hits and walked one in the first game. In the nightcap, Blevins scattered four hits, walked one and fanned seven.
Spring Garden had 10 hits in the first contest. Parris, Mullinax and Smart led with two hits each. Mullinax doubled for the only extra base hit and scored three runs. Smart scored twice and drove in two additional runs. Sides also had two RBI.
In the second game, Lambert was the only Panther with two hits. She had a double and a triple, scored once and had an RBI. Mullinax added a double and an RBI. Bonds and Messer drove in the other two Spring Garden runs.
