MHS blanks Athens 1-0 in sectional semi
By Joe Davis, jdavis@mariettatimes.comMarietta junior ace Layne Carpenter allowed two hits and struck out 12 Thursday afternoon as the Lady Tigers advanced to the Division II South Sectional final in girls softball action with a tight 1-0 triumph..
More importantly, Carpenter drove in the game’s only run as she swatted a double into the left-centerfield gap with freshman Allison Milligan running once the pitch left the hand of Athens’ starter Sarah Daugherty. Carpenter’s timely hit came with two outs in the bottom of the first inning.
Milligan had reached base on a two-out single to right off Daugherty.
“That was the difference in the game,” Marietta head coach John Doughty said of the hit-and-run play. “With two outs, I knew I had speed at first so if we could get in the outfield, we had a chance (to score).”
Athens (15-10) mounted two threats against Carpenter, getting a base runner to third in the fifth and sixth innings. In each case, Carpenter was able to get out of both jams unscathed. It was Carpenter’s 13th win in 19 decisions overall and it was the third time she’s defeated the Lady Bulldogs this season. She also upped her season strikeout total to 240.
Her past success against the Lady Bulldogs included two wins this season — a one-hitter on April 7 highlighted by an 18-strikeout performance in a 3-1 win at The Plains and a no-hitter on April 30 in another road game that included nine strikeouts and resulted in a 7-0 victory for Marietta.
Carpenter said her prior success against Athens gave her more confidence Thursday.
“After seeing them so many times, you just kind of know what to throw them,” Carpenter said. “I’m not really afraid of any of their batters. I mean, I respect them, but I did my best to not let them hit. I look at their stance and go with what I think they can’t hit. And I go from past experience, so I pretty much know what to throw them.
“I felt like I did a good job of keeping them off the plate and keeping them from scoring,” she said.
Carpenter faced the minimum through the first four innings, thanks to catcher Krissy Sutton throwing out Robin Morley on a steal attempt in the first inning and junior second baseman Kayla Felton turning a double play in the second by tagging out Sara Swaim before throwing on to first baseman Sarah Stalter on Jayne Seymour’s grounder.
Things got a bit dicier in the fifth as Anna Pomento singled, advanced on a ground out by Richelle Hecker and moved to third on a subsequent wild pitch. Carpenter got back on track by striking out Seymour on a called third strike and inducing Abie Salyer to ground back to the mound.
In the sixth inning, Kayla Nicholson reached first on a throwing error. Morley slapped a grounder to the right side of the infield with Felton making a sliding stop but unable to record an out. Both runners moved up on Raven Cline’s sacrifice bunt, the second out of the inning.
Carpenter then worked the count full to Whitney Dickens before throwing a fastball by her for the third strike.
Pomento led off the seventh by getting hit by Carpenter’s first offering. Working with just the one-run lead, Carpenter rebounded with back-to-back strikeouts of Hecker and Seymour before inducing Salyer to pop out to Stalter at first base.
Marietta (18-8) collected six hits over four innings against Daugherty, including back-to-back singles by Stalter and Kayla Felton in the fourth.
With the win, the Lady Tigers advance to the South sectional title game against either Gallia Academy or Jackson. The Gallia Academy-Jackson game was postponed by rain Thursday with no specific make-up date set, meaning the South sectional title would likely be moved back as well.
n NEXT GAME: LADY TIGERS vs. Gallia Academy-Jackson, tentatively at 1 p.m., Saturday.
Marietta 1, Athens 0
Athens 000 000 0 — 0-2-0
Marietta 100 000 x — 1-6-2
WP: Layne Carpenter (13-6) IP:7, H:2, R:0, ER:0, BB:1, SO:12.
LP: Sarah Daugherty IP:4, H:6, R:1, ER:1, BB:0, SO:1.
Jayne Seymour IP:2, H:0, R:0, ER:0, BB:1, SO:0.
Top hitters: Athens — Robin Morley 1-3; Anna Pomento 1-2; Marietta — Allison Milligan 1-3, 1 run; Layne Carpenter 1-3, 2B, RBI; Paige Lamb 1-3; Sarah Stalter 1-3; Chelsea Hutchinson 1-2; Kayla Felton 1-3.
