Easley — The Easley High School varsity softball team lost to Laurens 12-4 in the championship game of the Silver Division during the Aiken Triple Crown Fastpitch Tournament Saturday.
The Lady Green Wave lost to eighth-ranked Wando 3-0 in the tournament opener Friday and then fell to North Augusta 6-4 Saturday morning. Easley rebounded with a 17-5 victory over Brookland-Cayce to finish in third place in its bracket.
Easley rallied to defeat Gilbert 6-5 in the semifinals of the Silver Division before falling to Region 1-AAAA rival Laurens.
Sydney Patterson led Easley with a 6-for-13 effort at the plate in the five games. Robin Bradley also had six hits and Boo Vaughn was 7-for-18 with two doubles and a triple. She also had seven stolen bases.
Emily Freeman led Easley with five runs batted on five hits and Kelsey Garrett had four hits and got on base three times on a hit by pitch. Brittany Kimbrough and Taylor Jones each had four hits, including a home run by Jones and second baseman Mattison Trammell anchored Easley’s defense with 12 putouts and 11 assists.
First baseman Bailey Page had 31 putouts and Taylor Rothrock had a pair of hits and scored five runs in a backup role.
Junior varsity players Isabel Durham, Hannah Gravely and Billie Jean Page also contributed by combining for five hits and four RBI.
Wando 3, Easley 0
The Lady Warriors did all their damage with three runs in the first inning on two hits and three walks. After that, Wando had just one hit and one walk the rest of the game. Kimbrough allowed only five base runners over the remaining six innings, and two of those reached on errors.
Easley, however, was having its own trouble getting baserunners. The Lady Green Wave also had just three hits. Singles by Kelsey Garrett and Robin Bradley in the second inning were not converted into runs as a strikeout and infield popup ended the inning.
The Lady Green Wave struck out 13 times. All but one player struck out at least once.
North Augusta 6, Easley 4
Easley fell behind 6-1 before putting together rallies in the fifth and seventh innings.
Boo Vaughn scored in the first and fifth innings and then got Easley’s rally going in the seventh with a single. She stole second and scored on a single by Sydney Patterson. With two outs, Kelsey Garrett reached on a dropped third strike, Brittany Kimbrough singled and Robin Bradley was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Emily Freeman walked to force in a run, but a groundout ended the game with the tying run on second base.
Easley 17, Brookland-Cayce 5
Eight players scored at least one run and eight had at least a hit as the Lady Green Wave won easily. Six players had at least one hit, scored one run and drove in a run.
Boo Vaughn, Taylor Rothrock, Taylor Jones, Kelsey Garrett, Emily Freeman and Billie Jean Page each had two hits, including a home run by Jones and a triple by Vaughn.
Vaughn Rothrock, Jones and Kelsey Garrett each scored three runs, and Jones and Page drove in three each.
Page was the winning pitcher as she limited the Lady Bearcats to four hits and walked only one.
Easley 6, Gilbert 5
The Lady Green Wave built a 4-1 lead after five innings, only to watch Gilbert come back and take the lead with one run in the sixth and three more in the seventh. But Easley responded with a run in the bottom of the seventh and then won it in the eighth.
Kelsey Garrett got Easley started in the eighth when she was hit by a pitch. Brittany Kimbrough singled and Robin Bradley walked to load the bases. Emily Freeman’s single drove in Garrett with the winning run.
Easley had tied the game in the seventh when Taylor Jones doubled to score Boo Vaughn, who had reached on a fielder’s choice.
Laurens 12, Easley 4
The Lady Raiders broke open a close game with seven runs in the fourth inning. Three doubles, two singles and three errors led to the rally.
Easley got a one-out rally going in the bottom of the inning on a walk by Kelsey Garrett, single by Brittany Kimbrough and hit by pitch by Robin Bradley. A single by Emily Freeman scored a run, but a double play ended the inning.
Easley loaded the bases again in he fifth inning, but an infield popup ended the game. It was the sixth time in the tournament that Easley left the bases loaded. The Lady Green Wave also left two runners on base four times, and three times Easley had two runners on base and hit into an inning-ending double play.
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