Softball: Jay makes it back to Class 1A title game after squeezing past Liberty County
One year after falling in the finals, the Jay Royals will once again play for a state championship.
Ella Nelson scored two runs and Mattie Cochran pitched two innings of scoreless relief as Jay defeated Liberty County, 3-2, in a Class 1A state semifinal on Tuesday afternoon.
“It was a relief getting past them because we certainly did not play one of our better games today,” Royals head coach Brian Watson said. “We did not do a great job of getting on base and when we did get runners on we were swinging at first pitches.”
Improving their record to 21-5 this season following their 17th consecutive victory, the Royals advance to the 1A Final at 3:30 p.m. CST Wednesday and will face Fort White for the state title.
This is Jay's fifth Final Four trip since 2012. Each of its previous four state appearances over the past decade have ended with a runner-up finish, which includes a 5-4 defeat to Trenton last season.
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“Our goal was to get back to the championship game and win it this time,” Watson said. “Hopefully today was the big pressure game and we got all those uncharacteristic mistakes behind us.
"I think the big-game atmosphere got to us a little bit even though we were there last year. Hopefully, we got the jitters out and see if we can get it done tomorrow."
Finishing the job for the Royals on Tuesday was Cochran. Starting the game at first base, the senior entered the circle in the top of the sixth inning in relief of fellow senior Alayna Lowery. She exited the circle when Hayven Bunkley doubled to lead off the frame.
After the runner moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, Cochran nailed down the high-leverage situation by striking out the next two batters to end the inning. She dismissed Chesnee Hires with a called-third strike right down the middle before getting Riley Read to fan on an elevated pitch in the zone for strike three.
The Bulldogs got the tying run aboard in the seventh after Elizabeth Arnold was hit by a pitch with one out, but Cochran induced Gabrie Flowers to fly out and retired Caleigh Peddie on a dribbler to first to end the game..
“Having a pitcher who can come in and throw strikes is a huge advantage,” Watson added. “Mattie did a great job of shutting them down after that double.”
The Royals jumped on top early in the game by grabbing a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Nelson led off with a ringing double to the left-center field gap and Lowery moved her over with a single. Brooklyn Sorrells put the first run on the scoreboard by reaching on an error before Kaylee Gilbreath followed with an RBI single to score Lowery.
Lowery pitched out of trouble in the top of the first, but was touched for a run in the third. Arnold opened the inning with a triple and later scored on a Flowers sacrifice fly. Lowery got the run right back when she led off the bottom of the frame with a walk and scored on Caitlyn Gavin’s RBI double.
Liberty County posed its biggest threat in the fifth, as Arnold scored on back-to-back singles by Flowers and Peddie. But with one out, the Royals starting pitcher forced Kallan Mercer to hit into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Improving to 13-1 this season, Lowery was credited with the win after relinquishing two runs on five hits and a walk through five innings of work.
Arnold had two hits and reached base in all four at-bats for the Bulldogs, who finished the season with a 17-14 record. Mercer (8-5) was the hard-luck loser, allowing three runs on six hits through six innings
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Softball: Jay knocks off Liberty County, earn berth in Class 1A Final
