Staff report

MOUNT ULLA — East Rowan’s softball team got homers from Lily Kluttz and Kori Miller and beat West Rowan 6-5 on Tuesday in a game that will decide the South Piedmont Conference regular-season championship.

Madi Tigert (four innings) and Camryn Perkins (three) got the job done as a tag team in the circle against the hard-hitting Falcons. They struck out five.

East (18-2, 14-1) finished a sweep of West (16-4, 13-2)  and will win its second straight league title for coach Todd McNeely.

The Mustangs won four times against West in 2024. The Mustangs and  Falcons  are likely to meet again in the upcoming SPC Tournament, and it’s certainly possible they could have another meeting in the 3A state playoffs.

Both teams have a game remaining with last-place Robinson (West on Wednesday; East on Friday), but the chances of anything going wrong for East or West in those games are less likely than aliens landing at Staton Field.

As far as the playoff picture, East stayed second in the 3A West RPI rankings (behind Enka), while West stayed sixth.

East scored first, but West, which lost 6-0 to the Mustangs in Granite Quarry, took a 4-1 lead in the second inning.

East chopped into the Falcons’ lead with two runs in the third inning and finally took control with a three-run fifth for a 6-4 lead. The Mustangs held on from there.

Jordan Dry had three hits for East.

Miller and Kluttz had two hits each, and Perkins went 2-for-2.

Reese Poole led the Falcons. She had three hits, including a homer, and two RBIs.

Arabelle Shulenburger had two hits. Raney Phelps, Ella Doby and Riiley Haggas had RBIs.

Shulenburger did the pitching. She struck out five and walked three.