Central Catholic strikes late for playoff win

AMELIA — No. 7 Central Catholic only had two hits in its Division IV Regional Round victory against No. 10 Sacred Heart, but the Lady Eagles used what they did get as well as some timely walks to secure a 4-2 victory Tuesday.
With the game tied at 2 in the bottom of the fifth, Central Catholic put runners on first and second after Abbie Scully hit into a fielder’s choice and Rylie Jeau Theriot walked.
The Lady Eagles (22-7) broke the tie when Makinzie Macaluso, running for Scully, scored on Laila Dugar’s single. Hallie Crappell followed with a groundout to second base to score another run for a 4-2 advantage.
That was all Crappell and the Lady Eagles’ defense would need as they held Sacred Heart (17-10) off the scoreboard the remainder of the game.
“It took us a little while,” Central Catholic Coach Linda Sanders said. “We had to get through the lineup the first round, catch up with the pitching and that’s what we’ve been doing all year. … We never get down on ourselves. Sometimes it takes us a little longer, but our batting order, one through nine is great. So we never stress. We always are confident that we will come through, and we did.”
Crappell earned the win as she pitched seven innings and surrendered three hits, walked two and struck out nine.
In the complete-game effort, Sacred Heart pitcher Halle Lafleur suffered the loss after surrendering just two hits and striking out seven. However, she walked eight and hit one batter.
Sacred Heart took the lead early in the game as two runs scored on a dropped popup in the infield.
The Lady Eagles responded in the bottom of the third when Lafleur ran into trouble on the mound with two walks with a bunt single sandwiched between to load the bases with no outs. She walked in a run, and after striking out a batter, walked in a second to tie the game.
However, she got out of a jam when her defense converted a double play on a lineout to first base.
Offensively, Dugar finished 1-for-2 for Central Catholic, while Emily Lipari was 1-for-4.
Central Catholic will return to action Thursday at 5 p.m. when it travels to face Catholic High-Pointe Coupee in quarterfinal action. The teams met early this season with Catholic High winning 5-2. Catholic High advanced to the second round after defeating Central Catholic’s district foe, No. 15 Highland Baptist, 8-1 in other second-round action.