The good news is that the CCA Lady Patriots will play for a second consecutive Class A state softball championship Saturday morning in Columbus. The bad news is that they’re entering the game with one loss. And they’re playing undefeated David Emanuel Academy – the team that handed CCA that one defeat.
At noon on Friday, the Lady Patriots and the DEA Eagles played for a spot in the championship game. Going back to the state tournament last year, CCA had beaten DEA three times in a row.
Friday, the Eagles broke that streak.
The wheel came off early and often for CCA. After retiring the first two batters of the game, P Peebles singled then R Faircloth homered for a 2-0 lead. It only got worse from there, capped by a six-run fifth inning that gave the Eagles a 12-0, five-inning victory.
The Lady Patriots didn’t have long to grovel in their misfortune. Head coach Jeremy Coram does a fantastic job of getting his team back on track after a defeat and Friday was no different. At 4 p.m., CCA squared off against the Thomas Jefferson Academy Jaguars.
The Lady Patriots scored in the bottom of the first when Mattie Lewis singled to drive in Brilynn Waldron. The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the sixth when CCA scored three insurance runs to pad the lead. Klair Mercer singled in Lewis and moved Gracie Giddens to third. With Peighton Harper at the plate next, Mercer stole second but there was an error on the play. Giddens scored to put the Lady Patriots up 3-0 and Mercer moved to third. Harper then singled to score Mercer for the final run of the game.
Mercer and Abrah Harris each had two hits. Waldron stole two bases while Mercer swiped one bag. Harper had a solid outing in the circle, throwing a four-hit shutout with two strikeouts and no walks.
Next up is a Saturday morning rematch against the Eagles with the state championship on the line. First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. A second game, if necessary, will follow about half an hour later.