MOUNT ULLA —West Rowan showed its age a bit Friday night in the second round of the 3A state softball playoffs. With only two seniors on the team, the Falcons were never able to get on track against a more-experienced Ledford squad.

The Panthers pounded out 11 hits and outplayed the Falcons in literally every aspect of the game to rack up an impressive 6-0 win.

“We are just too young and our youth showed tonight,” West Rowan coach Jimmy Greene stated in the aftermath. “Our pitching wasn’t sharp, and we never got going at the plate.”

Ledford (18-7) came in as the No. 12 seed out of the Mid-Piedmont conference but dominated from the start to move on to Round 3 in the 3A West playoffs against either Hickory Ridge or Pisgah.

Pitcher Megan Hayworth limited the normally-potent Falcons (18-6) to just five hits, handing them only their second shutout of the season. Senior catcher Bayleigh Griffith provided the power for the winners with a two-run double in the first and a solo homer to deep left in the third giving the Panthers all the cushion they needed.

“Actually that was probably our best overall game of the season.” said Ledford coach Charlie Brown. “We pitched very well, we played great defense and when we had runners in scoring position we picked each other up.”

The Falcons, regular-season champions in the South Piedmont Conference, came into the playoffs as the fifth seed and rolled past Cox Mill, 8-2 in the first round Tuesday. Ledford, meanwhile dispatched Carson 6-3 earlier in the week and has now won seven of its last eight games.

The tone was set right out of the gate as UNC-bound Destiny Deberry was plunked by the first pitch from West Rowan pitcher Peyton Greene. After a single and a fielder’s choice, Ledford jumped ahead on a two-run double to the gap in right-center by Griffith.

Griffith made it 3-0 in the top of the third with a two-out line shot homer to left. The Panthers almost blew it open in the fourth when they loaded the bases with no outs. After a force out at the plate, however, Falcon shortstop Hunter Gibbons triggered a double play when she caught a popup then alertly threw to first to catch the runner scrambling back.

Ledford did expand its lead to 4-0 with a single run in the fifth on a single by Hayworth and a two-out double by Grace Holland. The final two runs in the top of the sixth were unearned as a two-out bases loaded grounder to short was mishandled by Gibbons.

The Falcons did have runners on base in every inning but the fifth, yet were unable to get the key hit off Hayworth. She limited West Rowan to four singles plus a sixth-inning double by freshman Parker Greene.

“It is a tough way to go out,” stated teary-eyed senior catcher Marissa Yow, who is headed to Radford next season, “Our heads just weren’t in it tonight, and we didn’t come ready to play like we usually play.”

Coach Greene felt his team has an outstanding season despite the setback.

“It was just a tough loss, and I hate it for (seniors) Hunter and Marissa,” he said. “The past two seasons have really been good ones for us and expectations for this program are very high now.”

 

Ledford 201 012 0 — 6 11 0

West Rowan 000 000 0 — 0 5 2

WP — Megan Hayworth (10-4)

LP — Peyton Greene (16-6)

HR: Ledford – Griffith (4)