Parkers Chapel has won its last six softball games by a combined margin of 21-4. But they’ve all been tough, hard-fought, seven-inning contests, including Saturday’s 3-0 win over Horatio in the finals of the 2A-South Regional Tournament.
The Lady Trojans will open play in the 2A State Tournament Thursday at 10 a.m. in Carlisle. PC coach Miranda Carlisle believes the final stretch of the season has her team primed for elite competition.
“I’m just incredibly proud of my girls. They keep showing me they’re going to keep fighting until the very end. I couldn’t be more proud of every thing they’re showing right now,” Carlisle said.
In the postseason, Parkers Chapel’s largest margin of victory was a 4-0 win over Fordyce in the district tournament. The final six games also included a 2-0 non-conference win over Crossett.
“I think it’s prepared us in just seeing some tough teams,” said Carlisle. “Going into district and going into regionals, these are teams that are all fighting for the same thing, wanting to get to state, wanting to win state. When you’re fighting teams that are putting it all on the line, you’ve got to do the same. I think, definitely the focus and intensity of all these games is getting us prepared for state.”
Pitching, defense and timely hitting have been common denominators down the stretch. The Lady Trojans scored three runs on four hits against Horatio, had four runs on just two hits in the semifinal 4-2 win over Fordyce and four runs on four hits in a 4-1 win over Poyen.
“Honestly, I would say the key to us winning these games is just we never stop fighting,” said Carlisle. “There’s been a couple times we were down, and we came back, and we won because we fought. Our pitching is solid. Our defense backs her up. We’re hitting the ball when we need to. We’re using all of our assets. Our biggest asset is that we never stop fighting.”