
Pisgah sophomore first baseman Jordan Taylor.
CANTON – Sun Valley is only two years removed from its last state-championship run in softball.
As of Tuesday though, the Spartans are just plain removed from the current NCHSAA 3-A playoffs.
The team from Monroe ran into a buzzsaw in the third round – a Pisgah squad which is peaking at the right time.
Sophomores Madison Whitted and Jordan Kielson combined to pitch a shutout. And the Black Bears broke open a 6-0 home win with all their runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings off of North Carolina recruit Brittany Pickett.
Emma Sorrells was 2-for-2, while Brooklyn Allen, Makala Beaver and Miranda Connor were each 1-3 with an RBI.
First baseman Jordan Taylor’s two-run homer to deep center field was a no-doubter from the moment it left the 10th grader’s bat in the fifth inning.
“This win feels amazing,” Taylor said.
“We all have a big goal for this team and I think we’re going to push it as far as we can.”
The Western North Carolina Athletic Conference champions have won 11 consecutive games and have yet to be scored on in the playoffs. That means they have outscored three opponents – Freedom, Fred T. Foard and now Sun Valley – by a combined margin of 19-0.
Pisgah (21-4) will be home once again Friday against either No. 18 Marvin Ridge (18-7) or No. 10 West Iredell (17-6).
Whitted started off Tuesday’s game in the circle and pitched 5.2 innings. She scattered three hits and one walk to go along with seven strikeouts. Kielson then came on for a little over an inning of relief, but was no less generous to the Spartans (19-8), who stranded multiple baserunners in the fifth and seventh innings.
Meanwhile, the Black Bears were getting busy at the plate.
Allen’s RBI single in the third inning came with two outs. Beaver made it 2-0 with a double in the fourth inning that hugged the right foul line before hooking around first base.
Connor followed an RBI single. Taylor’s homer — she drove out an inside fastball — was the cherry on top.
“We talk all the time about fundamental softball,” Pisgah coach Heidi Morgan said.
“The process is more important than the result. I thought we did a good job in a lot of areas today. We have a lot of respect for Sun Valley. Brittany Pickett is by-far the best pitcher we’ve seen all year. By far.”
More on this story to come….
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