OXFORD, Ala. – Maryville softball upset top-seeded Belhaven in the first quarterfinal game of the CCS Championship Tournament.
During the regular season, the Blazers put together an impressive conference campaign, suffering just one CCS loss—and it came at the hands of the Scots.
In the first meeting between the two teams, Catie Zani opened the scoring with an RBI single to left field before Paige Dickinson followed with a single through the left side to score Sydney Dickinson and give Maryville a 2-0 lead. Desiree Nance added her first home run as a Scot in the second inning, and S. Dickinson followed with a homer of her own to extend the advantage to 4-0. Belhaven answered with six runs in the third, but Abby Woodard tied the game at 6-6 with her first collegiate home run. The Blazers ultimately pulled away with three more runs to claim a 9-6 victory. S. Dickinson started in the circle, while Tia Stewart and Jacey Goetzinger combined to pitch the final 3.2 innings.
Game two told a different story. In a scoreless battle, S. Dickinson doubled to right center to bring home Emma Blankenship and give Maryville a late lead. P. Dickinson added a home run to left center in the sixth inning, and Olivia Harris scored on a wild pitch as the Scots secured a 3-0 win. S. Dickinson tossed a complete-game shutout, facing 25 batters and allowing just two hits while handing Belhaven its only conference loss of the season.
Thursday's matchup marked Belhaven's first game of the tournament after earning a first-round bye thanks to its 15-1 conference record. But if the regular season proved anything, it was that Maryville was more than capable of challenging the conference favorite.
The Scots wasted no time getting on the board. Blankenship opened the game with a single to left center, and S. Dickinson followed with a single through the left side. Then, in trademark fashion, Zani launched a three-run homer over the centerfield wall to give Maryville an early 3-0 lead.
Belhaven threatened several times throughout the game but could not break through until the bottom of the seventh inning. With two runners in scoring position, the Blazers reached on an infield single and capitalized on a Maryville error to score two runs, trimming the deficit to 3-2. After a pitching change and a walk, Belhaven loaded the bases with one out and appeared poised for a comeback.
Maryville's defense held firm. The next batter popped up to shortstop, and on the first pitch of the following at-bat, Belhaven lifted a popup to first base to end the game and seal the dramatic 3-2 Scots victory.
S. Dickinson earned the win in the circle, facing 28 batters while allowing just two runs and striking out four. Stewart recorded her first save of the season, closing out the final two-thirds of an inning.
With the loss, Belhaven dropped into an elimination game against Covenant. Maryville advances to the semifinal round and will face Huntingdon on Friday, May 1, at 12:00 p.m. in the CCS Championship Tournament.
