Cape Fear ekes past Pirates in U-8 softball final

LUMBERTON — The latest big play that contributed to Cape Fear’s 1-0 win over Lumberton in the United-8 Conference tournament championship Friday came on an error by the Pirates in the top of the seventh inning that allowed the go-ahead run to score for the Colts.

But Lumberton coach Mackie Register was clear that one play was not the sole determining factor in the game’s outcome.

“That one play that looks big, but that’s not really the play that lost us (the game),” Register said. “We should’ve scored — we had chances to score throughout the game. We had runners at second and third with no outs and didn’t score. We had runners at second several times and couldn’t get a big hit. And they made some great defensive plays, too; in that last inning the center fielder made a heck of a play. … There were a lot of points in the game where we could’ve made something different happen; it didn’t come down to that one play.”

Cape Fear (16-5) beat the Pirates (22-4) in the tournament final for the second straight year, as the third-seeded Colts upended United-8 regular-season champion and top seed Lumberton. Cape Fear also handed the Pirates their only regular-season conference loss with a 4-3 decision on April 17; Lumberton beat the Colts 3-0 on March 5.

The Colts’ run scored after the seventh-inning error; Allie Dawson singled to start the frame, was sacrificed to second and got to third on a groundout, scoring on a throwing error on a ground ball that could have ended the inning.

Cape Fear finally converted after a night full of traffic on the basepaths against Lumberton starter Halona Sampson, who escaped jam after jam all night long. Sampson allowed eight hits and no earned runs with two walks and seven strikeouts.

“She pitched a great game; it’s a shame we couldn’t get her at least one or two runs there, because she pitched well enough to win,” Register said. “Every time she’s in that circle, she gives us a chance to win.”

The Colts had runners at first and second with no outs in the first after singles by Dawson and Alex Serbio, but a strikeout and two groundouts to the circle got Sampson out of the inning. Cape Fear stranded the bases loaded in the fourth, then had nearly a duplicate of the first inning in the fifth, with Dawson and Serbio both singling again before Sampson retired the next three batters, helped by a defensive web gem from center fielder Alona Hanna on a diving catch.

The Colts also stranded single baserunners in the second and sixth, both of which reached to lead off the frame, leaving 10 on base for the game.

Cape Fear pitcher Olivia Melvin shut down the Pirates offensively, allowing just three hits with three walks and eight strikeouts in seven shutout innings.

“She was kind of effectively wild,” Register said. “She was kind of all over the place, but then when she needed to make a big pitch she made a big pitch. Her defense behind her made some great plays. Our defense was good too, but they made some tremendous plays to get out of some jams, and we didn’t get the big hit tonight.”

The Pirates had runners at second and third in the second inning after singles by Alona Hanna and Jaelyn Hammond, but two strikeouts and a caught stealing ended the threat. Hanna got to second after a fourth-inning double, and pinch-runner Macy Jones got to third in the fifth inning after Cameron Honeycutt walked, but the Pirates couldn’t cash in.

Alona Hanna had two hits to lead Lumberton and Hammond had one.

Dawson had three hits and scored the game’s only run for Cape Fear and Serbio recorded two hits.

After the tough loss Friday, Register said he reminded his team how much they’ve accomplished this season, and how much they still can accomplish with the state playoffs set to begin next week.

“We always set goals, and this was one of our goals to win the conference tournament, but to win the conference was the main thing,” Register said. “Win the Slugfest, and we did that. We want to make it to at least the third round of the playoffs, that’s another one of our goals that we’re shooting for. And if we accomplish that, we’re going to beat our school record for wins (in a season) that we set just last year.”

Lumberton, which entered play Friday as a projected No. 6 seed in the 4A East Region according to HighSchoolOT, will learn its playoff opponent when the North Carolina High School Athletic Association releases brackets on Monday.

“They’re a little upset right now, and I am too,” Register said. “But we’ll take the next two days and refocus on Monday, and then go back to work, and I think we’ve got as good a shot as anybody else that’s in the East (Region).”