Pee Dee Academy softball team finishes season in tourney

This is the third consecutive year the Pee Dee Academy softball team has finished the season among the top in a powerful class AA.

First year coach Bill Rogers and long-time assistant Eddie Pittman, once again had the Golden Eagles in prime shape to make a run at the crown as they headed to Lexington. And, it was off and running in a hurry for the blue and gold as they left Calhoun in the dust after one inning of the first round contest.

Down 1-0 after one half, Kali Jacobs led off the playoffs with a single and scored to tie it. In the bottom of the second, she would deliver again with an RBI single that scored Katherine Rogers. Rachel Hester and Caroline Shelley would follow with RBI hits and it was 4-1 Pee Dee after two.

In the fourth, Lee Pittman led off with a single. Following a walk to Summer Collins, Christen Bucy delivered a double that plated two and all but put the game away for the Golden Eagles.
An 11-3 win was led by Jacobs’ 4-5 batting and 3 runs scored. Rogers followed behind her with 3 hits and scoring twice and Bucy would knock in three runs on two hits. Collins got the win on the hill, striking out 5 in the game.

The win advanced Pee Dee in the winners bracket to face Dillon Christian. The Golden Eagles jumped on their conference rivals early, reaching a 5-0 lead after two and a half innings of play. Shelley and Pittman would gather first inning RBIs to start the game and Hester’s RBI double in the second padded the lead, making it 3-0.
In the third, a bomb to right center fell for an RBI double for Daleigh Huggins and Kelsey Dozier followed with the single that made it a 5-run lead. That was all Bucy would need as she struck out a handful in the 5-2 win.
Hester, Pittman, Collins, Huggins and Dozier all tallied a pair of hits off the Warriors’ starter.

So, for the second time in school history and the second straight year, the Golden Eagles began Saturday in the winner’s bracket. There awaiting them were the Colleton Prep Warhawks, a seasoned bunch who were knocked out cold by the Golden Eagles in 2008 in state playoff action.
Pee Dee got out of the gate quickly again as Jacobs led off with a single, stole second and scored on Pittmans single for a 1-0 lead.

But, the Warhawk bats came to life and they would rally to re-capture the advantage at 3-1. Huggins would cut the lead to one with a single in the fourth that scored Bucy and then the Golden Eagles got a real spark in the bottom half.
Colleton would load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fourth. But, two fly-outs and a ground-out cleared the threat without a run scoring.
Still, the Golden Eagles trailed by two entering the sixth. But, an RBI bomb off of the fence by Rogers and Hester’s RBI bouncer over third in the seventh tied the score at 4.
Pee Dee could not stop the Warhawks in the bottom half, however, and Colleton advanced with a 5-4 win that pushed the Golden Eagles into the loser’s bracket. Once again, they would be matched up with the Warriors from Dillon.

Knowing the loser was going home in this match-up of conference foes, Pee Dee broke out the bats in a big way. Highlighted by Daleigh Huggins’ first career home run, the Golden Eagles advanced with an 11-6 win, making a winnder out of Collins on the mound.
But, waiting in the wings was, once again, Colleton Prep. Needing to defeat the Warhawks twice to advance to the state championship series, Christen Bucy pitched her heart out in her last time. She would limit Prep to three runs five and two-thirds tough innings of work. But, the Warhawks got a bit two-out hit that plated a pair of runs that proved to be the difference.

Pee Dee would fight back by plating a pair of their own in the seventh. But, with two runners in scoring position, the Golden Eagles were unable to push them across and fell by a 5-3 score. Thus, the season came to an end with a third place finish in the state.
Leading the hitting parade in the tournament were Katherine Rogers who batted .520, Daleigh Huggins at .500 and Kali Jacobs as the leadoff batter hit .450 in the five games. The other hitters also combined to hit over .300 in the tournament.

“We hit well and played solid defense and it still was not enough,“ said Coach Bill Rogers as the season completed. “It just goes to show you how tough winning the state championship is in this league. Great job by our girls. I am so proud of what they have accomplished.“