The PCHS Lady Pirates softball team recently advanced to the Final Four in the GHSA State Playoffs for the first time since 2012 after defeating Franklin County in two games. The final games will be played this Friday at South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus GA on field five at 3 and 7 p.m.
"These young athletes have worked their tails off to make it this far. They are a scrappy bunch and a ton of fun to watch! They will be leaving the high school by bus Friday morning at 9 a.m. and traveling north through the square on their way to Columbus," said Will Duncan. "We would love to see as many people and businesses out on the street as the bus goes by to give these kids a proper send off! One thing I know about my county is we love and support our own! Let’s all get together for a minute Friday morning and let these young ladies know how proud we are of them and that Pike County loves them!"
The Lady Pirates battled through the first two rounds of state playoffs to earn a spot in the Elite 8. Pictured are (front row l-r) Lily Alpough, Katelyn Skinner, Belle Holmes, Bailee Brown, Shelby Duncan, Callie Williams (second row l-r) Alana Crenshaw, Emma Smith, Tori Dilbeck, Julianne Grubb, Maggie Nauck, Jamie Corbin, Faith Stowers, Madi Neal, Kaitlyn Rasbury (back row l-r) coaches Joey Satterfield, Kevin Mobley, Don Hanson and Mia Mobley.
Lady Pirates to play in Final 4; cheer them on Friday at 9 a.m.
The Lady Pirates run-ruled Beach High School of Savannah in back-to-back games as they hosted the first round of the state playoffs last week. The Lady Pirates also advanced in the GHSA State Tournament over the weekend by winning the best 2 out of 3 series at Harlem High School. They earned a spot in the Elite 8 competition.
In the first game of the double header, the Lady Pirates shut out Beach 15-0. Alana Crenshaw led the offense with three hits, followed by Madi Neal and Bailee Brown with two hits each. Julianne Grubb pitched the first game and had six strikeouts in the three-inning victory.
In the second game, the Lady Pirates shut out Beach again by a score of 16-0. Tori Dilbeck pitched for the Lady Pirates, allowing no runs or walks and striking out six in the three-inning game. Maggie Nauck led the team by driving in four runs and went 3-for-3 at bat, driving in runs on a triple in the first and single in the second. The ladies racked up 11 hits as Nauck, Neal and Shelby Duncan all had multiple hits. The Lady Pirates didn’t have any errors in either game.
In game one against Harlem, the Lady Pirates started the scoring in the second inning when Shelby Duncan drove in Faith Stowers and Emma Smith on a two-out single. The Lady Bulldogs got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when the Pirates made an error, allowing their opponents only run to cross the plate. The game remained 2-1 until the top of the fifth when the Pirates added some insurance runs. Duncan led off the inning by getting hit by pitch and scored on Madi Neal’s double to left field. Callie Williams followed that up with a bunt, the Harlem third baseman threw the ball past the second baseman covering first to allow Williams to score the fourth run of the game for the Lady Pirates. They scored their fifth and final run in the top of the sixth when Faith Stowers scored on a wild pitch. Julianne “Juba” Grubb was outstanding in the circle and picked up her thirteenth win of the season. She pitched 7 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 unearned run.
In game two, the Pirates got off to a great start as well. Harlem got on the board in the top of the first to take a quick 1-0 lead, but the Pirates answered in the bottom of the first with a run of their own. Bailee Brown singled to lead off the game and advance to second on a passed ball. After Duncan moved her to third with a ground out to the right side, Brown scored on Neal’s ground out to the short stop to tie it up at 1. The Pirates scored four more times in the bottom of the second inning to push their lead to 5-1. Jamie Corbin led off the inning with a single and after a strikeout, Emma Smith followed with an infield single. The Lady Pirates had runners at first and second with one out and Bailee Brown hit a hard ground ball to the short stop that she could not handle to load the bases. Duncan worked a bases loaded walk to force in the second run of the game for the Pirates, and then Smith scored on a wild pitch. Neal walked to load the bases again and Callie Williams followed with a single to right to score two runs to put the Pirates up 5-1 after two innings of play. The Lady Bulldogs responded in the third when they scored 5 runs to retake the lead. They added insurance runs late and went on to beat the Pirates 15-6.
That forced a deciding game three on Saturday at noon. The game got off to a shaky start for the Pirates. Bailee Brown hit the first pitch of the game up the middle for a single, Shelby Duncan was hit by pitch and Madi Neal singled to load the bases with no outs. Callie Williams hit what was thought to be a sac fly to left field as Brown tagged up and scored, but the catcher threw Duncan out at third base as she tried to advance on the throw. Harlem appealed that Brown left early from third on the tag and she was called out. Harlem turned a triple play to end the inning and the threat without allowing a run.
The Lady Pirates would not be denied though. In the second inning, after the first two batters struck out and popped out, Corbin singled and Stowers walked, setting the stage for Emma Smith who hit a triple off the base of the right field fence to score them both. Brown singled to score Smith to put Pike up 3-0 in the second inning. In the fourth, Corbin reached on an error and Stowers reached on an infield single. Corbin scored on a fielder’s choice by Smith to push the lead to 4-0. The Lady Pirates had one bad defensive inning and that was the bottom of the fourth where Harlem was able to push three runs across, but the Pirates were able to turn a smooth double play when Corbin fielded the ground ball and flipped to Madi Neal at second base and she made a great throw to Callie Williams at first. The Pirates had runners on second and third in the next inning, but wasted the opportunity to add more runs by leaving them both on base.
The Lady Pirates added to their lead in the sixth inning. Stowers singled, Smith laid down a perfect sac bunt to move her to second, and Brown singled and advanced on the throw to put runners at second and third. Duncan singled to score them both to push the lead to 6-3. Madi Neal followed with a single to put runners at second and third for Callie Williams who laced a single to center to score Duncan. Alana Crenshaw drove in Neal with a hard single to left to close out the scoring for the Pirates. Harlem was able to score a single run in the seventh, but the Pirates won the deciding game 8-4 to advance to the Elite 8. Again, Juba Grubb was stellar in the circle as she threw another complete game, picking up win number 14 on the season.
The Lady Pirates traveled to Carnesville, GA on Tuesday, Oct. 27 after press time to face a tough Franklin County squad.
In the first game of the double header, the Lady Pirates shut out Beach 15-0. Alana Crenshaw led the offense with three hits, followed by Madi Neal and Bailee Brown with two hits each. Julianne Grubb pitched the first game and had six strikeouts in the three-inning victory.
In the second game, the Lady Pirates shut out Beach again by a score of 16-0. Tori Dilbeck pitched for the Lady Pirates, allowing no runs or walks and striking out six in the three-inning game. Maggie Nauck led the team by driving in four runs and went 3-for-3 at bat, driving in runs on a triple in the first and single in the second. The ladies racked up 11 hits as Nauck, Neal and Shelby Duncan all had multiple hits. The Lady Pirates didn’t have any errors in either game.
In game one against Harlem, the Lady Pirates started the scoring in the second inning when Shelby Duncan drove in Faith Stowers and Emma Smith on a two-out single. The Lady Bulldogs got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when the Pirates made an error, allowing their opponents only run to cross the plate. The game remained 2-1 until the top of the fifth when the Pirates added some insurance runs. Duncan led off the inning by getting hit by pitch and scored on Madi Neal’s double to left field. Callie Williams followed that up with a bunt, the Harlem third baseman threw the ball past the second baseman covering first to allow Williams to score the fourth run of the game for the Lady Pirates. They scored their fifth and final run in the top of the sixth when Faith Stowers scored on a wild pitch. Julianne “Juba” Grubb was outstanding in the circle and picked up her thirteenth win of the season. She pitched 7 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 unearned run.
In game two, the Pirates got off to a great start as well. Harlem got on the board in the top of the first to take a quick 1-0 lead, but the Pirates answered in the bottom of the first with a run of their own. Bailee Brown singled to lead off the game and advance to second on a passed ball. After Duncan moved her to third with a ground out to the right side, Brown scored on Neal’s ground out to the short stop to tie it up at 1. The Pirates scored four more times in the bottom of the second inning to push their lead to 5-1. Jamie Corbin led off the inning with a single and after a strikeout, Emma Smith followed with an infield single. The Lady Pirates had runners at first and second with one out and Bailee Brown hit a hard ground ball to the short stop that she could not handle to load the bases. Duncan worked a bases loaded walk to force in the second run of the game for the Pirates, and then Smith scored on a wild pitch. Neal walked to load the bases again and Callie Williams followed with a single to right to score two runs to put the Pirates up 5-1 after two innings of play. The Lady Bulldogs responded in the third when they scored 5 runs to retake the lead. They added insurance runs late and went on to beat the Pirates 15-6.
That forced a deciding game three on Saturday at noon. The game got off to a shaky start for the Pirates. Bailee Brown hit the first pitch of the game up the middle for a single, Shelby Duncan was hit by pitch and Madi Neal singled to load the bases with no outs. Callie Williams hit what was thought to be a sac fly to left field as Brown tagged up and scored, but the catcher threw Duncan out at third base as she tried to advance on the throw. Harlem appealed that Brown left early from third on the tag and she was called out. Harlem turned a triple play to end the inning and the threat without allowing a run.
The Lady Pirates would not be denied though. In the second inning, after the first two batters struck out and popped out, Corbin singled and Stowers walked, setting the stage for Emma Smith who hit a triple off the base of the right field fence to score them both. Brown singled to score Smith to put Pike up 3-0 in the second inning. In the fourth, Corbin reached on an error and Stowers reached on an infield single. Corbin scored on a fielder’s choice by Smith to push the lead to 4-0. The Lady Pirates had one bad defensive inning and that was the bottom of the fourth where Harlem was able to push three runs across, but the Pirates were able to turn a smooth double play when Corbin fielded the ground ball and flipped to Madi Neal at second base and she made a great throw to Callie Williams at first. The Pirates had runners on second and third in the next inning, but wasted the opportunity to add more runs by leaving them both on base.
The Lady Pirates added to their lead in the sixth inning. Stowers singled, Smith laid down a perfect sac bunt to move her to second, and Brown singled and advanced on the throw to put runners at second and third. Duncan singled to score them both to push the lead to 6-3. Madi Neal followed with a single to put runners at second and third for Callie Williams who laced a single to center to score Duncan. Alana Crenshaw drove in Neal with a hard single to left to close out the scoring for the Pirates. Harlem was able to score a single run in the seventh, but the Pirates won the deciding game 8-4 to advance to the Elite 8. Again, Juba Grubb was stellar in the circle as she threw another complete game, picking up win number 14 on the season.
The Lady Pirates traveled to Carnesville, GA on Tuesday, Oct. 27 after press time to face a tough Franklin County squad.
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