EAST SURRY COMES BACK TO BEAT NORTH JOHNSTON, TAKE 1-A TITLE

NCHSAA release

                  RALEIGH – Courtney Simmons hit a solo homer for the only
run of the game and the brilliant pitching of Hayley Shelton made it stand
up as East Surry nipped North Johnston 1-0 on Saturday afternoon to win the
North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 1-A softball
championship at Walnut Creek Softball Complex.
                  Shelton blanked North Johnston on seven hits and struck
out 11 to give her 66 strikeouts for the four games she pitched in the
double-elimination event, earning her Most Valuable Player honors. Her 66
strikeouts represent the third-best strikeout total by a pitcher in the
history of the NCHSAA fast-pitch championships.
                  Simmons, who had two hits in three at bats, hit her homer
in the fifth but North Johnston wasn’t through. The Panthers got a runner to
third with nobody out in the seventh and then had the bases loaded with one
out but Shelton fanned the next two hitters to clinch the championship.
                  East Surry had to beat North Johnston twice to win the
title. A deciding game was forced by East’s 2-1 nine-inning victory over
North Johnston that gave the Panthers their first loss of the double
elimination event. The Cardinals rallied from a 1-0 deficit to tie it in the
seventh on an unearned run which scored on a sacrifice fly by Sam Smith.
    Smith’s double in the ninth then brought home the eventual winning run.
North had grabbed a 1-0 in the fourth when Kasey Creech tripled and later
scored on an error.
    Shelton went the distance to get the win and recorded 16 strikeouts
while giving up six hits. Creech gave up just four hits and no earned runs
but was the losing pitcher.
                  In the loser’s bracket final Saturday morning, East Surry
scored three unearned runs and downed Swain 3-0. Both teams managed only two
hits, but the Cardinals did not have a hit until the seventh and scored two
runs without benefit of a hit in the sixth.
                  Shelton was the winning pitcher for East, fanning 10,
while Shelby Parker was charged with the loss. East scored a pair in the
sixth on an error and wild pitch and then another run scored in the seventh
on a wild pitch after Sam Smith had doubled.
                  Bop Walkingstick had a double in three trips for Swain,
which finished 22-8 overall.
                  The Raleigh Sports Consortium and the Greater Raleigh
Convention and Visitors Bureau are among the host city sponsors for the
championships.

NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
2009 STATE 1-A SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
WALNUT CREEK SOFTBALL COMPLEX, RALEIGH

FRIDAY’S RESULTS
STATE SEMIFINALS
North Johnston 3, Jamesville 0
Swain 1, East Surry 0 (14 innings)

WINNER’S BRACKET FINAL
North Johnston 1, Swain 0

ELIMINATION GAME
East Surry 5, Jamesville 0

LOSER’S BRACKET FINAL
East Surry 3, Swain 0

CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
East Surry 2, North Johnston 1 (9 innings)
East Surry 1, North Johnston 0