The Craig County Rockets won a dramatic decision over George Wythe to open the Region 1C softball playoffs last week but fell one win short of advancing to the state tournament.
Craig opened the Region 1C tournament in Covington last Tuesday, May 29. The game was scheduled to be played in New Castle on Memorial Day, but a wet field forced it to be postponed by one day and moved to Covington, where the Rockets served as the home team.
Craig jumped off to an early 5-1 lead in the game, only to have the Maroons rally. Wythe led 6-5 into the bottom of the seventh but the Rockets were able to load the bases with two outs. Jaci McAlwee stepped to the plate and stroked a two-run single to end the game as the Rockets took a 7-6 win.
McAlwee, Tierrney Zysk, Mackenzie Hutchinson and Maggie Huffman all had three hits in the game for Craig. Keiley Dudding started on the mound, followed by Kaylee Pauley and Hannah Taylor. Hannah finished the game and picked up the win.
With the victory Craig advanced to the semifinal round, where a win would put them in the state tournament. However, it wasn’t to be as a strong Auburn team shut out the Rockets, 14-0.
“We had a lot of hits but we couldn’t string them together,” said coach Elaina Wolfe-Carper. “We had runners in scoring position and couldn’t get them in. We left the bases loaded twice.”
With the loss Craig finished the season with a 7-3 record. The Rockets graduate just one senior, Zysk.
“We’ll really miss Tierrney’s bat, but we have everyone else coming back,” said Wolfe-Carper. “We should be pretty strong next year.”
