Cathedral Lady Green Wave still alive at MAIS Class 5A South State Tournament

Published 12:35 pm Monday, September 30, 2024

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BROOKHAVEN — The Cathedral High School Lady Green Wave went 2-1  Saturday at the MAIS Class 5A South State Tournament being held at the Hansel King Sportsplex to advance to the upcoming Class 5A State Tournament as one of the last four teams remaining.

But it was not as easy as perhaps it could have been for Cathedral, the District 4-5A runner-up and its No. 2 seed. In Game 2 on Field No. 4, the Lady Green Wave scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat the District 3-3A No. 3 seed Oak Forest Academy Lady Yellow Jackets 3-2 in one of the four 10 a.m. games to start tournament play.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Lady Green Wave struck for two runs thanks to timely an RBI single by Kinslee Young, which was followed by an RBI double by Molly Shirley that brought in Young for a 2-0 lead.

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“Kinslee Young and Molly Shirley had back-to-back big RBI hits for us in the bottom of the fourth,” Lady Green Wave head coach Craig Beesley said. “Lily (Crum) held them down and gave us a chance to win in the bottom of the seventh.”

Crum pitched a complete game and allowed two runs, one of the earned, on three base hits while walking three and striking out 10 batters. Oak Forest Academy answered what Cathedral did in the bottom of the fourth with two runs of its own in the top of the fifth inning. It would remain that way until the bottom of the seventh.

Arthur, the No. 9 hitter in the line-up, put the ball in play and reached on an error to bring in Wells Linton, a courtesy runner for EC Lewis, with the winning run. Lewis reached on a single

“Anna Arthur did a good job of putting the ball in play and put pressure on the defense, allowing us to score the winning run,” Beesley said.

Both Young went 1-for-2 with one RBI and one run scored and was walked once while Shirley was 1-for-3 with a double and one RBI. Hannah Hargon was 1-for-3 with a double. KG Fisher was 1-for-2 with one run scored.

That win advanced Cathedral in the winner’s bracket to face off with District 3-5A champion and No. 1 seed as well as defending Class 5A state champion Parklane Academy in a 2 p.m. game on Field 3. Unfortunately, the Lady Green Wave lost not only the game 1-0 to the Lady Pioneers, but also one of their starting pitchers early in the game.

Olivia Navarro held Parklane to just one hit and struck out three batters, but she also walked four batters and threw a wild pitch before the unthinkable happened as she went down with a knee injury. Navarro lasted just one and one-third innings and Hannah Hargon came on in relief.

“Hannah Hargon did a great job on the mound in relief of Olivia Navarro. Hannah gave us a chance to win the game by keeping the score low. We were just unable to get any runs on the board,” Beesley said.

In fact, the Lady Green Wave out-hit the Lady Pioneers five to four. However, Cathedral also committed two errors while Parklane committed no errors.

Hargon was charged with the loss after allowing one unearned run, that in the bottom of the third inning, on just three hits with two strikeouts and one walk.

Madelyn Fielder went 2-for-3 while both KG Fisher and Anna Arthurn were 1-for-2. Molly Shirley was 1-for-3.

That loss dropped the Lady Green Wave to the losers’ bracket, which took place right after their game against Parklane Academy, as they faced off with District 3-5A No. 4 seed Columbia Academy on Field 1.

However, it didn’t take long for Cathedral to get its bats going as the Lady Green Wave steamrolled past the Lady Cougars 12-2 in six innings to not only eliminate Columbia Academy from this double-elimination tournament, but also allow Cathedral to advance to the state tournament.

The Lady Green Wave scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning and one run in the bottom of the third for a 5-0 lead. After the Lady Cougars plated one run in the top of the fourth inning, Cathedral answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and three runs in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead 10-1.

Columbia Academy scored one run in the top of the sixth to make it a 10-2 game, but Cathedral run-ruled the Lady Cougars after scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth.

“We hit the ball well in game three. We had 18 hits and did a good job running the bases,” Beesley said. “This win allowed us to enter the final day of South State on Monday and also qualifies us for the state tournament next weekend in Magee.”

Not only did the Lady Green Wave bounce back with that many base hits, but everyone in their line-up had at least one hit.

Lily Crum went 3-for-4 with a double and one RBI while Hannah Hargon was 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, and one run scored. Liza Gregg went 1-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs, and one run scored. Molly Shirley went 1-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored.

KG Fisher went 2-for-3 with two doubles and one run scored. Leadoff hitter Madelyn Fielder was 2-for-4 with one RBI and three runs scored. EC Lewis was 2-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored. Kinslee Young was 2-for-3 with a double, one RBI, and two runs scored while Anna Arthur was 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, and one run scored.

Crum also had a strong performance on the mound, going all six innings and allowing two runs, one of them earned, on five hits with eight strikeouts and just two walks.

Now it’s a matter of seeding for the Lady Green Wave (25-4). They took on Oak Forest Academy for the second time in tournament play at 12 p.m. Monday with the winner advancing to the loser’ bracket final against the loser of the Brookhaven Academy vs. Parklane Academy game and the loser automatically advancing to the Class 5A State Tournament at the Magee Sports Complex as the South No. 4 seed.