Ladybirds’ unbeaten season ended by Dixon in 3rd round

STANHOPE — After 22 straight wins, the Southern Nash High softball team tasted defeat for the first time this spring as Dixon handed the Ladybirds a 5-4 loss Wednesday evening in the third round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs.

Southern Nash, the No. 2 seed out of 32 in the 3-A East region and champion of the 2-A/3-A Big East Conference, fell behind 4-0 through two innings before cutting the deficit to 4-3. But the No. 7 Bulldogs (22-4), the top team in the 3-A Coastal Conference, added a run in the top of the fifth inning and averted a meltdown in the bottom of the sixth to stay in front.

“We made some uncharacteristic mistakes and dug ourselves a little bit of a hole,” Ladybirds head coach Scott Collie said. “We got down 4-0 and I thought the kids showed a lot of heart when they battled back and cut the lead to 4-3 at one point. … The kids fought and they competed and I was really proud of them for that. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

The Bulldogs touched Southern Nash junior starting pitcher Anna Dickinson for four runs in the second inning. The Ladybirds’ only error played a major role in the inning, however. Dickinson, who suffered her first loss in 16 decisions, gave up just two earned runs on seven singles and four walks in the complete game. She struck out four.

Dixon, which lost three straight to start the season, rode the pitching of seniors Nadine Barren and Hannah Oakes. Each allowed two hits and one earned run. Southern Nash scored three runs total off Oakes, who got the win with four innings of relief.

The Ladybirds fought back with a run in the third and two in the fourth. Dickinson doubled in a run while Carlee Beckham also doubled and Noel Dobbin scored twice in the game. Grace Rokos was 3 for 3 to lead Dixon at the plate.

Southern Nash’s Kaylie Love had an RBI groundout in the fourth in which the Bulldogs’ only error allowed a second run to come in, cutting Dixon’s lead to 4-3. The Bulldogs answered in the top of the fifth with a run but Southern Nash threatened in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with one out.

Freshman Aliyah Croll, who had already singled, drove the ball to center field, allowing the runner on third to tag up and score. However, the Ladybirds runner on second base was cut down trying to advance to third, giving Dixon the escape with the inning-ending double play.

The Ladybirds couldn’t muster another rally in the seventh as the Bulldogs advanced to the fourth round Friday against the South Central-Union Pines winner.

“Just an amazing season,” Collie said. “You hate to see it come to any end, at any point, but, like I said,  I was just really proud of the way they battled back and they competed. Dixon is a very good team. When you get to this point in the playoffs, your margin for error is really thin. We just couldn’t get over the hump. You know, we battled back, we just couldn’t finish it off.”

The competitiveness of the 3-A softball bracket did not go unnoticed by Collie, who pointed out that all of the top four 3-A East seeds had been eliminated and No. 2 Southern Nash is the only one to reach the third round.

“It really is a Murderer’s Row,” Collie said.

The Ladybirds certainly factored into that assessment with 22 straight wins and several of the top statistical performances in NCHSAA 3-A this season.

“They’re really a special group,” Collie said. “Obviously, Southern has won a state championship in softball and they were runners-up one year, but I think you could argue that this was — outside of those two years — I think you could argue this is one of the better years probably in school history.”

Southern Nash will say goodbye to seniors Ariel Perry, Addison Brumfield and Payton Tharrington, but there’s a solid contingent expected to return, including Dickinson, a two-time all-state selection.

“I told them after the game, thank the seniors for everything that they have done and the ones that were coming back, I wanted them to remember what it felt like in that huddle,” Collie said. “We’re just going to try to come back next year and work hard and just try to keep moving forward. You know, we advanced a round this year and made it to the third round and maybe we can come back next year and go a little bit farther.”

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