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Warlassies slips past SM in extra inning playoff classic
Smoky Mountain’s first appearance in the state softball playoffs turned into an extra-inning classic, but the game ended in heartbreak for the Lady Mustangs (10-12) when Owen took a 1-0 win in nine innings Friday at Owen.
The opening-round contest in the 2-A playoffs was a pitchers’ duel between Shelby English of the Warlassies and SM’s Megan Taylor.
Smoky Mountain’s Megan Taylor allowed only three hits in Friday’s state softball playoff game at Owen. Despite her strong pitching, the Lady Mustangs lost 2-1 in nine innings. – Herald photo by Carey Phillips
English pitched a one-hitter and retired the final 25 batters she faced. The only two base runners she allowed were in the first inning. She finished with 15 strikeouts, walked no one and hit a batter.
“She’s one of the top two pitchers we’ve faced this year,” Coach Mark Taylor said.
Megan Taylor had a no-hitter going through five innings and finished with a three-hitter. She fanned seven and walked three.
“That was a heck of a game,” Coach Taylor said. “That’s what you want to be part of. It was a great game with great pitching and great defense. We didn’t hit the ball like we needed to, but Owen made plays.”
Haley Wilson tripled with one out in the ninth. A walk to Bethany Lee and a stolen base left runners at second and third with one out. Taylor got a strikeout for the second out of the inning. Two pitches later, a passed ball allowed the winning run to score.
Owen appeared to have broken through with a run in the sixth. Bre Przestrzelski led off with a single for her team’s first hit. She went to third on English’s single and came home on what would have been a sacrifice fly by Wilson, However, Przestrzelski was ruled to have left third too early keeping the game scoreless.
SM’s lone base runners came with two out in the first when Taylor was hit by a pitch and Rachel Stewman singled.
Although they weren’t hitting, the Lady Mustangs played excellent defense. Second baseman Mallory Nelson was one of the defensive standouts.
“She made about three outstanding plays in a row at one time,” Coach Taylor said.
Others he singled out for their defense included first baseman Stewman, shortstop Brittany Gilbert and left fielder Brandi Anders.
“Our players stepped up, and that’s what we wanted them to do,” the coach said.
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