The Summit High School softball team's shot at a state title in their first trip to the TSSAA Class AAA state tournament is still alive, but a straight path to the championship game was detoured Thursday night with a 5-1 loss to Farragut in eight innings at Starplex Park. The Lady Spartans gave up a run in the fourth on a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly after squandering scoring opportunities, stranding two on base in the second and three in the third. Leaving runners in scoring position became a running theme. Down by only one, Summit left the bases loaded in the fourth and two on in the fifth and sixth innings. With their backs against the wall in the bottom of the seventh, the “Cardiac Kids” woke up and did what they’ve done all season – made a game of it. Hannah Sundberg came up big leading off, slamming a Farragut pitch to the fence in center field and strolling into second with a stand-up double. Spartan faithful held their breath as the Lady Admirals’ junior hurler Avery Flatford fanned the next two batters. Flatford, though, had nothing for Claudette Runk, who connected for a single that scored Sundberg to tie the contest, sending it to extra innings. That’s when the wheels fell off the bus for Summit. Lily Kate Richards, who had taken over the mound from starter Elena Escobar to start the fifth, gave up a leadoff single to Cameron Young that was misjudged in left field, allowing Young to advance to second. The next batter, Lauren Brakovec, reached on another Summit error, stole second and both scored on Ava Guzowski’s double. “Convincing teenage girls to let those things go and move is the tricky part,” said Summit coach Jenny Stevenson, who was an intern at Farragut at one time. “Sometimes the parents struggle with it more than the girls, but it keeps that negative energy going.” Trouble continued when Sarah Livingston dropped a ball in no-man’s land between home plate and first base. The ball came to a stop as soon as it hit the Starplex dirt, leaving Emma Beach with the ball but no where to go with it. Another single brought Escobar back to the circle, but Farragut added a tally on a passed ball and a sacrifice bunt to first pushed another run across for the final margin. Morgan Woodside’s single in the bottom of the eighth left her as the last of 14 runners the Lady Spartans left hanging on the night. Woodside closed 3-for-5 and Sundberg singled and doubled for the Summit offense. Flatford surrendered 10 hits to Summit, but struck out eight with just the one earned run and three walks in the complete game effort. The game was replete with strange plays and nearly every one seemed to go against the Lady Spartans. Stevenson also noticed a difference in her team that knocked off Daniel Boone and Dyer County Wednesday and the one Thursday. “Yesterday if felt like we knew we were going to win and today we were hoping to win," she said. "We’ve just got to come back out confident. We’re not done yet. "We’re fighters. We like that grit, that determination at the last minute. That’s who we are … that’s what we do. I’m hoping they get that back in their system tomorrow.” Summit (25-8) is scheduled to play Coffee County (33-6-1) in the consolation finals at 9 a.m. for the right to face Farragut (36-2) in the finals of the double elimination tournament at 3 p.m. A troubled weather forecast will likely shift the scheduling.
Source: Williamson Herald
