The Carmi-White County Softball team traveled to Harrisburg on Wednesday night to face Harrisburg in the semifinal round of the IHSA 2A Regional, and the Lady Bulldogs came away with a 4-0 win.
Carmi was looking to avenge a 6-4 loss to the Purple Lady Bulldogs from earlier in the season, and they turned to junior pitcher Lindsay Simmons to control the Harrisburg offense, and that’s exactly what she did.
Neither team recorded a hit in the first 2 innings, but the Carmi offense finally got something going in the top of the 3rd.
Back-to-back singles by Addi Elliott and Caroline Simmons followed by a fielders choice loaded the bases with one out. Ashlyn Rager surprised the Harrisburg defense by laying down a perfectly placed bunt right down the first base line. Everyone advanced and Elliott came in to score, giving Carmi a 1-0 lead. Maggie Pearce followed up with an RBI base hit to right field, Simmons scored and Torrie Rider was thrown out at home, but the Lady Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 3rd inning.
Carmi loaded the bases once again in the 4th inning, and Mia Evans came in to score on a passed ball, extending CWC’s lead to 3-0.
Four straight singles to begin the top of the 5th inning extended Carmi’s lead to 4-0 on an RBI by Eva Attebury, scoring Alayna Johnson.
While the Lady Bulldog offense gave her a comfortable lead, Lindsay Simmons and the Carmi defense never gave Harrisburg a chance to get back in the ballgame. Harrisburg would only get two more baserunners for the remainder of the game as the Lady Bulldogs held on for a 4-0 victory.
Simmons earns her 5th win of the season in the circle, she allowed 0 runs on just 4 hits with one strikeout as the Lady Bulldog defense continued to make plays all night long.
At the plate,
Addi Elliot: 2-for-4, Run
Caroline Simmons: 1-for-3, Run
Alayna Johnson: 1-for-4, Run
Ashlyn Rager: 2-for-4, RBI
Maggie Pearce: 2-for-3, RBI
Eva Attebury: 1-for-3, RBI
Lindsay Simmons: 1-for-3
Mia Evans: 2-for-3, Run
The Lady Bulldogs improve to 12-13 on the year as they advance to the Regional Championship Game for the 3rd consecutive season. Carmi will face the defending State Champions, Carterville on Friday in Harrisburg. Carmi fell to Carterville last season in the Sectional Semifinals by a score of 1-0 in 14 innings, they also lost to them back on March 25 by a score of 11-5.
Fans can listen to Friday’s Regional Championship on 97.3 FM WRUL and online at WRUL.com. First pitch is set for 4:30 PM.
