Greensboro: Alexander Central won the school’s 10 North Carolina High School Athletic Association State Championship in Softball.
Alexander Central claimed the school’s sixth fast-pitch state championship and 10th overall as they stormed back from three runs down in the final inning to knock off Cleveland 6-4 in eleven innings.
The Cougars found themselves down 4-1 with two outs in the top of the seventh when they mounted a furious comeback to tie the game and force extra innings. Lanie Goforth drew a two-out walk to get the comeback started, advancing to second on a sharply hit single by Julie Gast to short. That set the stage for Chesney Millsaps to slap an RBI single to center and trim the Rams lead to 4-2. Alexis Walter’s RBI double to right brought home two more runs to tie the game at 4 and push the game to additional frames.
Both teams held each other in check in extra innings until the top of the eleventh when Alexa Rash singled with one out for Alexander Central. She advanced to second and third on a pair of passed balls before Gracie Rhoney brought her home with a sacrifice fly to give Alexander Central a 5-4 lead. The Cougars added some insurance with a Gast RBI single to score Goforth.
MVP Chesney Millsaps
Cleveland managed to work a runner into scoring position in the bottom of the eleventh, but the Rams could not get any runs across as Chesney Millsaps shut down any momentum the Rams tried to generate in the extra innings. Millsaps was named the series M.V.P. going the distance in both games. She held the Rams to three hits in game one and 10 hits through 11 innings in game two while striking out eight Cleveland batters. She also went 3 for 6 with a pair of RBI’s in the series final game.
The Lady Cougars won Game I of the Championship series in a game that concluded earlier in the morning. The contest was suspended due to a violent thunderstorm the night before.
AC won 2-0 scoring a pair of runs in the 5th inning.
The storm struck and halted the action in the middle of the 6th inning.
The Cougars were coached by Darryl Adkins.