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School Sports
Hunt falls short at S. Central By Scott Jones | Special to the Daily Times WINTERVILLE -- In a game that pretty much had it all, Hunt High's varsity girls softball team left Winterville Friday night without the thing it needed most -- one more run. Battling the rainy weather and an early deficit, the Lady Warriors rallied to tie the score in the top of the sixth inning, only to give up a run in the bottom of the same inning to fall to homestanding South Central, 4-3, in the second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A state playoffs. The spirited rally made the final outcome that much harder to take for the six Lady Warriors who saw their prep careers come to a close with a 16-8 record on the season. The Lady Falcons. No. 1 seed from the Coastal Conference, take a 21-2 record into the third round. "I have often said if I could take a bus and ride from school to school and handpick a team, I'd still take these girls right here," proud Hunt head coach Riley Hurdle said. "I could not be more proud of this bunch. They just do not have any quit in them." Indeed, despite being down 3-0 after three innings, a span that also included a one-hour rain delay, Hunt, the No. 3 seed from the Eastern Carolina Conference, spent most of the rest of the game being the aggressor. Nowhere was that never-say-die attitude more evident than in the top of the sixth inning. With two out in the inning, feisty freshman catcher Amber Parrish boomed a hit off the wall in dead center field, then hustled her way to a base-hugging slide for a triple. One pitch later Parrish dove head first into home plate to score Hunt's first run on a South Central wild pitch. Parrish, caked in wet clay, bounded into the Hunt dugout, and the rally was on. Two pitches later, Joyner joined Winbourne by beating South Central pitcher Caitlin Wainright to the plate following a passed ball. Wainright then recorded a strikeout to end the rally, but at the point Hunt clearly looked in control. That control, unfortunately, would be short-lived. In the bottom of the sixth, South Central's Morgan Davis came to the plate with one out and runners at first and third. Davis proceeded to slap a single up the middle to bring home Jackie Kramzar with the winning run. "It was really big to get that run in the sixth," South Central head coach Walt Davis said. "I thought they had all the momentum at that point, so I was proud to see our girls respond like that." Undaunted, Hunt pushed the Lady Falcons to the brink in the top of the seventh. With one out Morgan Balance reached on an error and was replaced by courtesy runner Crystal Fulghum. Fulghum moved to second when senior Lauren Langley singled to left, giving senior Abby Earle a one-out, first-and-third opportunity. However, after Earle missed on a bunt attempt, South Central catcher Perkins, who was 4-for-4 at the plate, fired a strike to first base to pick off Langley. Fulghum alertly took third on the play, keeping the pressure on the Lady Falcons. Wainright rebounded, though, and recorded her sixth strikeout to end the game and send her teammates leaping for joy, as well as ending Hunt's season in Winterville for the second-consecutive year. "From everything we heard, we knew that Wilson wouldn't quit," said Davis. "It was all true, They fought hard." Hurdle concurred. " We could have tied it at the end," Hurdle said, "and that's all you can ask is to have that chance. The girls never quit and gave a great effort throughout. Again, I could not be more proud of them." Score by innings: Hunt 000 003 0 -- 3 South Central 102 001 x -- 4 WP-Wainwright (19-1). LP-Mayo (14-7).
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