Published Thursday, May 01, 2008 1:37 PM
Updated Thursday, May 01, 2008 1:38 PM

 

Fort advances with extra-inning win over Wando

Fort Dorchester broke a 4 and ½ inning stalemate Tuesday to hand Wando a 5-4 loss and advance to the District 6 finals in the Class AAAA softball playoffs.

After Patriot first baseman Jessica Rabun knotted the game at 4 with a solo home run in the bottom of the third, neither team scored for nearly five innings. Wando put a runner on in the top of both the seventh and eighth, but failed to capitalize.

Rabun led off the bottom of the eighth with a single. Sarah Gambrill, who was pulled up from the JV team earlier this season, came in to run for Rabun and stole second. Then freshman Megan Strickland came to the plate and drove in Gambrill for the game-winning run.

Fort pitcher Robbie Rice allowed 10 hits, but struck out eight batters. She also contributed at the plate, finishing with two doubles and three RBIs.

“It was closer than I wanted it to be, but fortunately Robbie Rice stepped up,” Patriot coach David Johnson said. “She had some timely hits and some timely strikeouts. We also have some young players who are handling the pressure well.”

Wando’s Lindsay Newman was 3-for-4 at bat with a run scored. Ruthie McTighe was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Brook Spradlin hit a triple to drive in a Warrior run.

“I’m proud of our girls,” Wando coach Denny Doggett said. “They really gutted it out this season. We lost our two top pitchers to injuries, but our kids played hard and gave everything they could. Fort Dorchester played well and got some hits. At least we didn’t give anything away.”

On Wednesday, Fort Dorchester (19-7) traveled to face South Florence, which handed the Patriots a 9-0 loss in the second round. The Patriots needed to defeat the team twice in order to win the district championship. Results were not available at press time. Wando (12-16) was eliminated with Tuesday’s loss.