East Clarendon edges Saluda 2-1 in AA softball state championship series opener
Game 2 is set for Thursday at 7 p.m. in Saluda
Turbeville – East Clarendon High School’s Laiklyn Gaskins played with fire all night long in Game 1 of the AA softball state championship series against Saluda on Wednesday. The senior right-handed pitcher may have gotten singed, but she was never burned.
Despite walking 11 batters, Gaskins allowed just three hits and one run as the Wolverines defeated SHS 2-1 at the EC field to go on top in the best-of-3 series.
The second game is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. in Saluda. If a third game is needed, it will be played on Saturday at a neutral site.
Gaskins stranded 12 runners on base, six of them in scoring position. She walked the bases loaded twice, in the second and sixth innings. She only paid the cost once though, that coming in the sixth when the Tigers scored their lone run.
East Clarendon head coach Jason Newsome knows what he’s going to get from Gaskins game in and game out.
“She competes her tail off every night she goes out there,” said Newsome, whose team improved to 26-8 on the season. “There are some games like this where she gets herself into trouble and gets herself out of trouble, always seems to make the pitch when she needs to make it.
“She’s our senior leader for a reason because no one competes harder than she competes.”
Gaskins finished the game with seven strikeouts, four of them coming with runners in scoring position. The first of those came after she had walked the bases loaded with two outs in the second inning. Gaskins whiffed Saluda leadoff hitter Nyla Jordan to end the threat.
Gaskins pitched herself into trouble in the sixth, walking Kam Campbell and Ava Martin to start the inning after taking a 2-0 lead in the fifth. After recording an out, she walked Taylor Wideman to load the bases. She struck out Ashlynn Vereen for the second out, but Jordan came through with a single to score Campbell and make it 2-1.
She avoided further trouble by getting Miller Martin to fly out,
Gaskins struck out Karen Almarez looking to start the seventh before giving up a base hit to Jayme Sheaffer, who had two of Saluda’s three hits. Gaskins caught Campbell looking for the second out before walking Ava Martin, moving pinch runner Boots Marnati into scoring position. That brought Sorcia to the plate, and she turned on a pitch that fell just foul down the left field line. Gaskins caught her looking as well to end the game.
Saluda head coach Hannah Towery believes her team may have been a bit overwhelmed by the circumstances.
“We were slightly just mentally weak in the box tonight,” said Towery, whose team dropped to 25-4. “We have a pretty young team, and we’ve just never been in this moment before, and we let the moment get too big for us. We drew the walks and did the little things that we were supposed to do, but at the end of the day, we didn’t get the hit, didn’t get the run. They made all the plays. We’ve got to be better in the batter’s box.”
The Wolverines took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Bailey Hicks drew a leadoff walk from SHS pitcher Miller Martin, one of only two she allowed in the game. Gaskins followed with a single before EC pulled off a double steal to put both runners in scoring position. Zoe Culick grounded out to the right side to drive in Hicks.
Miller Martin got Peyton Hanniford to pop up on the infield and struck out Layke Jeffords to keep the score at 1-0.
Newsome said East Clarendon tries to pick its spots to attack on the bases.
“When we had opportunities we wanted to take advantage of them,” Newsome said. “Base runners are at a premium in games like this. We don’t want to run ourselves into outs, but selective aggression is a good thing.”
EC got its other run in the fifth after two were out with none on base. Hicks singled, stole second and Gaskins came through with her second hit of the game to score her.
“We felt like we were getting good looks at the plate all night long,” Newsome said. “She’s (Gaskins) gotten big hits for us all playoffs long. Tonight she got another one.”
East Clarendon played a clean game defensively, not committing an error.
“Our defense has been up and down all season,” Newsome said. “Lately we’ve been pretty good. When you get into trouble, and you’ve got traffic on the bases, you’ve got to be able to make outs when they present themselves. That’s what we did tonight and stayed out of the big innings.”
Miller Martin scattered five hits along with the two walks while striking out four.
“She did really, really well,” Towery said of her pitcher, who had errorless play behind her as well. “She moved it in and out and up, keeping them off balance. She does well, she always does well. I couldn’t ask anything better from her.”
Jeffords and Addison Fleming had East Clarendon’s other two hits.
Miller Martin, Campbell, Ava Martin, Sorcia and Vereen each drew two walks.
The Wolverines are one win away from a state title, meaning more work is yet to be done.
“To win on your home field in front of a great crowd is huge,” Newsome said. “We’ve got to win one more though. We’re going to try and go get that tomorrow.”
Saluda knows it still has a chance.
“It’s not done yet, it’s not over,” is what Towery told her team following the loss. “We’ve got to come out tomorrow ready to fight, swinging. Let it (the loss) hurt; don’t let it define you, but let it (motivate) you.
“It could have easily been flipped the other way. You’ve got two strong, equally talented teams. It was a great game. We’ve just got to hit a little bit more.”
