Falcons take first game from J.L. Mann

By: Lou Bezjak | SCNow
Published: May 13, 2008

DARLINGTON — For the second time in three years, the Darlington softball team is one win from a state title.
Now the Falcons hope to finish the deal.
Courtney Kickery’s fifth-inning grand slam and Stacy Weatherford’s pitching helped Darlington to a 4-1 victory in the first game of the Class 3A state championship series on Monday.
Game two is set for Wednesday in Greenville at 6 p.m.
“It’s somebody different every game stepping up,” Darlington coach Tim Wiley said.
Darlington (32-4) has been down this road before. Two years ago, the Falcons won their state championship series opener against Seneca but dropped the final two games.
Wiley, an assistant on the 2005 team, said he talked with the Falcons about that in a meeting before Monday’s game and thinks his team is better prepared to win the school’s first state championship in any sport.
“If we go up there and aren’t mentally ready, then they got all the momentum,” Wiley said. “But they’re going to be ready to go.”
His players say things are different this time around.
“If we learned anything, then you can’t sit on that first game,” said Kickery, who was a sophomore on the 2005 team. “You just got to play as hard as you did the first game because you never know when you are going to get it back.”
Against J.L. Mann freshman pitcher Leslie Jury, Darlington managed only one hit the first time through the order before breaking out in the fifth.
Darlington loaded the bases with one out when Elizabeth Flowers reached on an error, Cat Gainey singled and Tori Norwood walked.
After Taylor Wiley hit into a fielder’s choice that cut down Flowers at the plate, Kickery belted a 3-2 pitch into a stiff wind and over the center-field fence for a 4-0 lead.
“It was an accident,” Kickery said with a laugh. “... But I knew once I hit it, it was gone because it came off the bat good.”
Weatherford, who was questionable for the game with an ankle injury, got better as the game went on and picked up the win.
The senior retired 15 straight from the second through the sixth innings before allowing a solo homer to Jury in the seventh.
Weatherford gave up four hits, walked none and struck out four.
“Saturday, it looked bad. She had a great bit of swelling, but it went down a great bit,” Tim Wiley said. “Today, she had no pain and pitched very good.”
Jury took the loss for the Patriots. She gave up four hits, walked two and struck out 10. All four Darlington runs were unearned.

Falcons take first game from J.L. Mann

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