May 20—CATAWBA RIDGE 5, NORTH AUGUSTA 2

The North Augusta softball team's state title defense came to an end Friday night with a 5-2 loss to Catawba Ridge in the Class AAAA Upper State semifinals.

The Jackets (18-7-1) needed a win to force a winner-take-all third game Saturday, but the Copperheads (23-3-1) scored a run in the top of the sixth inning to break a 2-2 tie then added two more in the top of the seventh.

North Augusta struck first with a run in the bottom of the first, and Catawba Ridge answered with two in the top of the second to take the lead. The Jackets evened it at 2 in the bottom half of the inning, and the score remained tied until the sixth.

Elizabeth Levins, Sarah Henry, Savannah Allen and Jordan Wiley each had a hit for the Jackets. Wiley drove in a run, and Allen and Madalynn Tigert each scored once.

Tigert got the start in the circle and went the distance, allowing five runs (three earned) on four hits with six strikeouts and one walk. The Jackets committed three errors in the field.

Catawba Ridge, which lost to North Augusta in last year's state championship series, moves on to play for the title next week against either South Florence or West Florence.