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Home - Local News Sports Obituaries Editorial Social Archives |
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Sports - May 2002 |
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Lady Mustangs win Big South title TERRANCE THOMAS, LTN Staff Writer May 17, 2002 - DENVER — East Lincoln’s Stephanie Horne was in a four-game hitting slump. With the score tied, two outs in the seventh and a runner on first and second, the Big South 3A Softball tournament championship was on the line. Horne was shaking. But Thursday afternoon she held the bat still on Ashbrook’s 2-2 pitch and drove the ball into short left-center field. Aleah Lane raced all the way from second to score, completing a comeback win for the conference title. East girls danced, yelled and cried tears of joy — and some of sorrow as they remembered Nicole Bowman. Bowman died in a car accident early in the school year. Her teammates dedicated the season to her. Bowman’s No. 10 is painted in orange in the grass behind shortstop. There must have been some type of divine intervention that took place Thursday for the Lady Mustangs. Ashbrook had scored two runs in the top of the seventh to go up 4-1. East had hit the ball hard but could only muster four hits and had left seven runners on base for the first six innings. It didn’t look good. But the Lady Mustangs bats picked up while Ashbrook’s defense added gas to the fire. Courtney Ewing doubled to lead off the inning. With one out, Nicole Shoemaker’s base hit brought in Ewing. Shoemaker came home on Stephanie Edwards’ hit which was mishandled by the Ashbrook outfielders. Edwards then scored to tie the game on an error by the Lady Wave third baseman. Lane then hit a fielder’s choice grounder. Jessica Towery singled and Lane moved to second. That brought up Horne. “I was shaking,” she said after the game. “I was so nervous. I was thinking about Nicole (Bowman) and Travis (Conrad, who died in a auto accident a few weeks after Bowman). I said ‘Oh, God, I’ve got to concentrate.’ “When the count was 2-2, I knew in my head, I’m going to swing at the next pitch. When I hit it I had a feeling it was going to be a hit. It was right where I wanted. I’m still a little shaky.” Horne had the big hit but team was behind her. “It feels great,” said Amanda Goodson. “We had a lot of adrenaline going. We never were going to quit. We knew Stephanie was going to get a hit. We had a faith in her.” Even though the Lady Mustangs had won the conference regular season title, they were serious about winning the tournament, too. “This is wonderful for us,” said Stephanie Edwards. “We had set goals. This was one of them. We came together as a team and didn’t lose hope. I hope we will continue to play like this. We’ll go far.” East lost its first game then won an amazing 17 in a row before losing the last two, including one to Ashbrook. The team had problems hitting in its last few games so coach Scott Spohler had the players take batting practice on Friday, Monday, Tuesday and even before the second round game against South Point on Wednesday. It paid off. The Lady Mustangs rapped out 10 hits and eight runs and beat South Point. Kristen Taffi and Shoemaker combined for five RBI in the game. East pitchers Ewing, Lane and Painter threw six innings of no-hit ball after the first inning. The playoffs begin next week. Spohler said the team could play St. Stephens or Crest.
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© 2001 Lincoln Times-News |
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