No one wanted another 13-inning playoff marathon. Their nerves couldn't take it.
So the Crest High Lady Chargers went and took care of business early in their third-round State 3A softball engagement with visiting Erwin High Tuesday. Crest bunched five hits for five runs in the second inning and that was all senior right-hander Bailey Smith needed for support as the Big South Conference champs rolled to a 5-0 triumph.

The victory means Crest (22-1) will host either Franklin or Enka Friday at 5 p.m. in the sectional finals.
Smith turned in another shutout effort on the mound against Erwin (12-15). She allowed only two hits and struck out 15.
"I've had Bailey for four years now and she's always going to give it all she's got," said Crest coach Greg Earl. "In my mind, she's always 'on' when she pitches."
The big early outburst took the heat off Smith and the Charger defense.
"Our defense came through for us again," Earl said. "They got runners in scoring position on a couple of times but we got'em out."
Gracie Pitchford drew a walk to start Crest's big inning. Dakota Keller beat out a bunt before a groundout moved the runners to second and third. That brought junior leftfielder Brooke Powell up to bat. She lined an 0-2 pitch between the third baseman and shortstop to give Crest a 2-0 edge.

"I was just thinking, we've got runners on so it's up to me to bring them in," said Powell. "Between short and third is my spot. When I've gotten big hits, that's where they've gone."
Crest wasn't finished. The rally continued as Hannah Thompson was safe on an infield grounder and Katelyn Spangler hit safely to load the bases. A runner scored on Lou Bankhead's infield out, then a pair scored when Amanda Baker's hot grounder to short was mishandled.

Crest got only one hit -- a double by Baker -- the rest of the way off Erwin pitcher Allison Dowdle but the damage had been done.
The Lady Chargers are now just one win away from going to be a part of the 3A final four.
"I think the reason we're doing so well is were all like family, like sisters," said Powell."We get along so well and play really well together. If someone does make an error, we're all there to pick them up."

It only took one sudden explosion to turn a consummate pitchers’ battle into a convincing victory for the Crest High baseball team on Wednesday night.

The Chargers (19-4) rode the strength of a six-run fifth inning and a Jay Robinson one-hitter on the mound to defeat Hickory 7-0 in 3A second-round playoff action. That sets up a 7 p.m. Friday showdown with SMAC No. 1 seed Patton (22-4) on the Charger field.

“Patton’s good, but we’re ready for them,” Crest second baseman Patrick Bowman said. “We’ll practice hard. We’ve got a good game plan.”

Each team managed only one hit through the first four innings of play before five Charger hits and three errors broke things open in the fifth.

“Any time that we’ve faced good pitching, we’ve actually come through with some big hits,” Crest coach Steven Hodge said. “You know, our kids just hunkered down and did things that they were supposed to do, and balls found the gaps and we (were) able to score runs. You know, our kids did a tremendous job at the plate tonight.”

Nick Triplett and Sterling Cole started the bottom half of the inning with back-to-back singles before Cody Turner loaded the bases by reaching on a Red Tornado error on his sacrifice bunt.

With the bases loaded, Hickory’s Tyler Barnette took over for starter Tyler Poole on the mound. He recorded a strikeout before throwing a wild pitch that scored Triplett for the game’s first run. Bowman then launched a two-run single to right.

Barnette induced a groundout, but a Ridings RBI bunt single, an error that allowed Landon Elks to reach and a two-run single by Jacob Tisdale pushed it to 6-0.

An inning later, Cole would score on an RBI single from Bowman.

The only hit off Robinson was a first-inning double off the bat of Barnette, who was stranded at third for the Red Tornadoes (17-11). The Charger senior hurler would finish with seven strikeouts and three walks.

“I felt good tonight. Everything was moving right and (there was) great defense behind me,” Robinson said.

Bowman (3-for-3, 3 RBI) and Cole (2-for-3, 2 runs) paced Crest’s nine-hit attack.

With such a veteran group, coming through late didn’t surprise Hodge.

“They know the atmosphere in these playoff games, so they know how to handle it,” Hodge said.

HICKORY -  Depending on which sideline you where standing, Wednesday’s West 3A girl’s state soccer playoffs between St. Stephens and Crest was a game of missed opportunities or an opportunistic night.

“We beat a heck of a team,” said Crest head coach Zach Wortman. “It was a really hard game. I felt like they (St. Stephens) dominated and controlled most of the game but we were able to take advantage of our chances.”

Crest defeated second-seeded St. Stephens 1-0 in the district finals to advance to the sectionals despite being outshot 21-6.

“We hate to come out on the losing end, but sometimes you have to score goals,” said St. Stephens head coach Chuck Davis. “You have to credit Crest for their fine play.  We just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. That’s the story of the game.”

It’s just the fourth time this season the Indians have been shutout while it’s the seventh shutout this season for Crest and its second in the last three matches.

Crest has outscored its opponents 6-2 through the first three rounds of the state playoffs.

Crest (12-7-3) faces Northwestern 3A top-seeded Hickory at Hickory on Friday. Hickory advanced with a 5-1 win over Patton in its district match.

Crest has won seven straight and is 7-0-1 in its last eight matches.

The last loss for the Chargers was April 20 (1-2) to Hickory at home.

The lone goal came with 15:56 remaining in the match by sophomore Brayden Pruitt.

“I can’t take anything away from them (Crest) because they put the ball in the back of the next on one of the few chances they had,” said Davis.

From that point, Crest’s defense did its job allowing the Indians two shots the remainder of the match.

The Indians best chance to score after falling behind was with 8:35 remaining when Alyssa Starnes’ shot sailed over the cross bar by inches.

Prior to the Chargers breaking a scoreless match, St. Stephens had several near misses to strike first.

With 28:06 remaining in the match, St. Stephens’ Katie Johnson just missed when her shot hit the cross bar and Macy Franklin missed wide left with 24 minutes remaining.

St. Stephens closes the season at 17-6-3.

On paper, it wasn’t supposed to be much of a challenge for the Crest High softball team.

The veteran Lady Chargers had beaten rival Burns twice this season and owned a healthy advantage in playoff experience against the youthful Lady Bulldogs.

But athletic contests, especially at playoff time, are settled on the field.

Yet midway in the fifth inning Crest couldn’t have been faulted for being a bit on edge, leading only 2-0 and having survived Burns placing runners in scoring position the previous two innings. The Lady Chargers though pushed four runs across in their next two at-bats to get some breathing room en route to a 6-0 first-round 3A triumph against the visiting Bulldogs Tuesday.

Crest (20-1) now will take on either Fred T. Foard or Asheville in the second round later this week.

Senior Bailey Smith tossed a four-hit shutout against the Bulldogs, but found the sailing anything but smooth as Burns threatened several times. Leadoff doubles by Keeley Jones and Madison Wood for Burns in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, proved to be bullets that the Crest hurler dodged with a major assist by the defense behind her. Then in the seventh, the Lady Bulldogs loaded the bases but Karen Randall lined out to right field to end it.

“Our defense did a good job,” said Crest coach Greg Earl, “even though it hadn’t been tested that much (this season). We were able to keep their leadoff runner from scoring a couple times. We wanted our outfield to be more aggressive going after everything and that did that.”

Burns put the ball into play more in this contest that in either of its regular-season encounters with Crest.

“We still were just not as aggressive as the plate and we had our chances (to score),” said Burns coach Lisa Fulbright. “We’re so young, we only lose two players so we’ve got a lot to look forward to for next season.”

Burns pitcher Keeley Jones gave up single runs in the second, third and fifth before having trouble with her control in the sixth as the rain began to fall. Madison Wood came in to shut the door after the Chargers produced three insurance runs to break it open.

Smith, besides striking out seven, didn’t walk a batter until the seventh. She breezed through the first three innings unscathed, throwing only 26 pitches. Jones’ leadoff double in the fourth gave Burns its first base runner.

Jones, Wood, Candace Fitch and Keeley Pendleton hit safely for Burns (9-12).

Crest was led by Smith, Gracie Pitchford and Kendyl McWhirter with two hits apiece with Lou Bankhead, Amanda Baker and Brooke Powell contributing to a nine-hit attack.

“We’ve got to trust each other,” said Earl of Crest’s hopes for a long playoff run. “The defense will step up, the pitching has to be good and we’ve got to stay aggressive at the plate. We just have to believe in each other that we’re going to get the job done.”