Williams shackles WC, 10-0|[04/22/07]
Published 12:00 am Saturday, April 21, 2007
The Warren Central Lady Vikes fast-pitch softball team made progress against standout Oak Grove pitcher Ashlyn Williams on Saturday.
They got two hits instead of one.
Tiffany Fuller hit a single in the third inning and bunted for a hit in the sixth, but that was all WC could muster in a 10-0 Class 5A state playoff loss. The defeat eliminates the Lady Vikes (15-12), while Oak Grove advances to the South State final.
“I didn’t think we came out with as much intensity as I thought we should have,” said WC coach Dana McGivney, whose team lost 4-0 to Williams and Oak Grove on Thursday. “We let them get up on us and when they get ahead, they are tough.”
That toughness starts with Williams, a fireballing lefty who has signed to play at Troy University next season. In four seasons as Oak Grove’s starting pitcher, the Lady Warriors (22-0-1) have won two state championships and played for a third.
Her fastball has been clocked in the mid-60s, which, according to one longtime softball observer, is equivalent to about 97 or 98 mph in baseball. Mix in a screwball, changeup and curveball, and Williams is extremely tough to beat.
She allowed the two singles to Fuller, walked Mandy Fuller in the first inning and saw Andi Hearn reach on an error in the fourth inning. Hearn advanced to third base that inning, but no other WC runner made it past first.
Warren Central, meanwhile, tried to go opposite to catch Oak Grove napping. WC started slow-throwing Chelsea Worley, who didn’t make it out of the second inning.
“They threw her a little in the first game and caught us off guard,” Oak Grove coach Gary Ivy said. “We had a good idea that she was going to pitch again and we worked really hard (Friday) on the slow stuff. We were able to make the adjustments.”
A two-RBI double by Chandler Ivy, and RBI groundout by Williams and an RBI single by Amber Jones gave Oak Grove a 4-0 lead at the end of the first inning.
“We feel like if we can score three runs, we have a good chance to win,” Gary Ivy said. “Out pitcher came out and did a good job.”
Courtney Hill belted a two-run inside-the-park home run in the top of the second inning to chase Worley. Hearn came on in relief, allowed one earned run in the third and held Oak Grove scoreless until the seventh, when the Lady Warriors scored two runs for a 10-0 lead.
Chandler Ivy led Oak Grove with a single, double, inside-the-park home run and three RBIs. Hill had a single and a home run in the victory.
Lauren Herron had an RBI and Amber Jones also had an RBI in the victory.
Williams, the reigning Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year, finished with 14 strikeouts for her 22nd win of the season.
The Lady Vikes will now look toward next season with only one player, Kari Lieberman, set to graduate.
“I’m pretty excited about next year,” McGivney said. “I’m ready to go.”
Salem 5-3, St. Aloysius 2-0
St. Aloysius lost two straight games at Salem on Saturday, ending the Lady Flashes’ playoff run.
St. Al, which beat Salem in the bottom of the last inning on Thursday to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series, needed to win just one game on Saturday to advance.
The Lady Flashes finish the season 23-8.
Individual statistics were not reported.