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CONCORD — Central Cabarrus softball coach Dennis Cook is absolutely correct when he says his team has the “whole package,” but West Rowan came reasonably close to unwrapping the mighty Vikings in Thursday’s South Piedmont Conference tournament finals.
Defending 3A state champ Central kept its incredible 50-game winning streak intact with an 8-1 win over coach Vanessa Noe’s youthful Falcons (17-5), but the outcome was a mystery until the last of the sixth. That’s when the Vikings (23-0), ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 5 in the nation by ESPN, mounted a seven-run inning to snap, crackle and pop a 1-1 tie.
“We had one bad inning,” sighed Noe. “Other than that we played excellent defense and we put the bat on the ball. This is the best game we’ve played against Central.”
With an upset win, third-seeded West could have leaped to the SPC’s No. 2 seed for next week’s state playoffs. Instead, the Falcons, who are in the playoffs for the first time since girls softball switched to fast-pitch, must travel to Welcome Friday to face Tri-County champ North Davidson in a first-round clash.
Coach Mike Lambros’ North Davidson team is a perennial powerhouse, but it’s unlikely the Falcons are going to be intimidated by the Black Knights after climbing into the ring against sensational Central pitcher Crystal Cox for the third time this spring. Cox no-hit West last week in Mount Ulla. This time she held them to infield singles by Brittany Harkey, Hillary Hampton and Emily Wallace.
West put two baserunners on in each of the first three innings, but managed only an unearned run against Cox, who throws 60-plus mph and whose ERA stands at a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding 0.10.
“We can hit Crystal,” insisted West third baseman Brittany Harkey. “It’s all in our heads.”
But, then, Crystal’s been in the heads of the whole softball world for three years now. She can burn the speedball by batters or make them look silly with darting dropballs or an unfair change-of-pace.
At least, West scored against Cox for the first time. Emily Wallace started the third with a bunt single. Lyndsey Gay bunted and Cox made a rare bobble to put two on. Then when catcher Kelly Allen tried to pick Gay off first, the ball floated down the right-field line. Wallace scored and Gay scampered around to third. It was 1-1 and there were still no outs.
Cara Graham followed with a hard shot at second baseman Christina Watson. Watson saved a run — maybe the game — fielding a tough short hop, looking Gay back to third and getting the out at first.
“A great play,” said Cook. “Because Gay’s their fastest runner.”
Cox retired the next two batters to escape the inning.
After that Falcon breakthrough, the bases stayed Crystal clear. West didn’t manage a single baserunner the last four innings. Cox finished with 10 Ks, impressive, but far below her average.
West was around until the sixth because of dynamic defense. Gay, West’s pitcher, didn’t register any strikeouts, but her uncanny quickness turned repeated Central bunt attempts into outs.
“Gay took the short game away from us,” said Cook. “She’s just an outstanding athlete.”
Central scored in the second on Elizabeth Stamey’s RBI single, but Gay saved at least two more runs. She pounced on a bunt and flipped the ball to catcher Ashley Dowdy, who dove and tagged out sliding Jamie Pinion at the plate. Gay got another spectacular out when she knocked down a shot up the middle by Watson and fired to Brittany Harkey to catch a runner straying off third base.
The tiny Gay was almost knocked into center field in the fourth by another bullet off the bat of Watson, but again she deflected the ball and got an out.
“I got my glove knocked off both times by her (Watson),” said Gay, shaking her head.
Gay, who shares Falcon pitching duties with Alicia Wilson, said she still felt strong heading to the sixth, but suddenly Viking bouncers and bloops found holes. Cox got the big inning going with a clean single. Another single and an error filled the bases. Then Watson dumped one in center, with the ball eluding a head-first diving Blair Harkey by inches. Right fielder Natalie Jones hustled over to back up, but her throw home sailed over Dowdy’s head and caromed out of play. When the dust settled, three runs had crossed.
Central then displayed a killer instinct — banging out four more hits in rapid-fire succession . One of them was Pinion’s three-run laser to the left-center gap that crushed any West thoughts of a miracle comeback.
“We held ’em great until that inning,” said Gay. “Then we lost our cool and gave up some runs. We beat ourselves more than anything.”
West went silently in the seventh, as Cox, looking as fresh and strong as she had when lineups were introduced, ended matters with two Ks and a weak pop up.
“It did feel good to play that team 1-1 as long as we did,” said Brittany Harkey, one of only two non-freshman to see action for West. “They were sweating us for a while.”
A smiling Cook, whose school moves to the 4A ranks next season, agreed West gave the Vikings something they long for, but rarely get — a competitive game.
“I know seven or eight of those West girls personally from summer ball,” he said. “That’s the best young team I know of and they continue to get better. That team has great prospects for the future.”
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NOTES:West took a big step in its development on Tuesday with a 3-1 semifinal win over No. 2 seed Northwest Cabarrus. “We finally showed up against them,” said Brittany Harkey. ... Only Northwest (twice) and Central (three times) have beaten the Falcons. West even owns a victory over 4A Davie, the 18-1 War Eagles’ only defeat. ... Central is the favorite for a second straight state title. It hasn’t loss since it fell 1-0 to North Davidson in the 1999 state playoffs when Cox was a freshman. ... Dowdy’s first-inning throw to shortstop Hampton nailed the only baserunner who tried to steal.
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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