Box Score WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. - The Coastal Georgia softball team escaped elimination once again as they battled through the rainy conditions to defeat the St Francis Fighting Saints by a final of 5-4 in their second elimination game of the day.
After striking out the first two batters she faced,
Bryce Peacock did allow a two out single to the Fighting Saints. The single would not hurt the Mariners as they looked to remain hot going into the bottom of the first inning.
In the bottom half, the Mariners were setting up what looked like a big inning offensively.
Rori Rhodes started the inning with a one out single, and
Rily Andrews followed two batters later with a single of her own.
Rylee Mills drew a walk to load the bases, but a strikeout ended the threat and stranded the bases loaded.
In the second, Peacock sat down the Fighting Saints in order and turned the game over to her offense for some run support.
Run support is exactly what she got as the Mariners scored two in the bottom half.
Emma Jones started the inning with a one out single,
Julianna Batts followed as she reached on an error, and
Sarah Thinger followed her with a walk to load the bases with just one out. The next batter, Rhodes, came through with a two RBI single into right center field to give the Mariners their first lead of the game. CCGA couldn't add on anymore runs, and the game went to the third with the Mariners leading 2-0.
The Fighting Saints got a single in the third but couldn't score, but Manning got a big double play in the bottom half to keep CCGA off the board and keep the score at 2-0 going into the fourth.
In the fourth, the Fighting Saints tied the game with two runs of their own in the inning. Three doubles in the inning from Landeros, Manning, and Cook drove in the two runs, and tied the game at 2-2 going to the bottom half.
In that bottom half, the Mariners got those runs right back. Jones led the inning off being hit by a pitch, Batts walked, and Thinger grounded into a fielder's choice shuffling the base runners. After Rhodes flew out to make the second out, Peacock came through once again with a triple, this time a two RBI triple into right center, giving the Mariners a 4-2 lead.
Elizabeth McGovern, who relieved Peacock in the circle in the previous inning, allowed two base runners to reach in the fifth but stranded them both to preserve the lead going to the bottom of the fifth.
Rylee Mills started the fifth inning with a leadoff walk, and was pinch ran for by
Courtney Beck. McGovern moved her to second with a sac bunt, and Jones followed by drawing a walk to put two runners on. One batter later,
Morgan Coleman, pinch hitting for Batts, drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. Thinger could not bring the crowd home as she grounded out to end the inning, and the game progressed into the sixth with the Mariners still leading 4-2.
In the top of the sixth, the Fighting Saints tied the game up once again scoring a pair of runs. After a leadoff walk to Mwaro, a triple two batters later from Osborne scored her as the Fighting Saints cut their deficit in half. Osborne came in to score on a fielder's choice, tying the game at four a piece going into the bottom half.
Just as they did earlier, the Mariners responded in the next half inning. Rhodes started the inning with a walk followed by an error from the Fighting Saints moving her to third and allowing Peacock to reach. Andrews followed with a sac fly to score Rhodes, making the score 5-4 Mariners. With the inning looking promising , two straight foul outs ended the inning, but the Mariners held a 5-4 lead needing just three outs for the win.
In the bottom half,
Rylee Mills got her second win of the weekend as she sat down the Fighting Saints in order to get the 5-4 win for CCGA and move their season forward one more day.
Rhodes finished 2-3 at the plate with two of the five CCGA hits, with her and Peacock adding two RBI's a piece. Andrews finished 1-3 with possibly the biggest RBI of the season for the Mariners.
CCGA used all three of their pitchers in the winning effort, with Mills picking up the win with 1.2 clean innings.
The Mariners now earn a rematch with Benedictine, their only loss of the tournament so far, with the winner earning a spot in the championship game with Cumberlands. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. from the UC Softball Complex.
