SPARTANBURG, S.C.—Pitt Community College Softball's 2016 season came to an abrupt end Saturday with a 9-5 loss to USC-Sumter in the Region X Conference Tournament.
Seeded fourth at 27-14, PCC opened tournament play by taking down fifth-seeded USC-Salkehatchie, 12-8, on Friday morning. Down 2-0, the Bulldogs made the most of their third inning at-bats, scoring five runs in the frame, including a two-run shot over the fence by catcher Hayes Moss.
After scoring once in the fourth and three times in both the fifth and sixth innings, Pitt held a 12-3 advantage before having to hold off the Indians down the stretch. Salkehatchie plated three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh before Bulldogs relief pitcher Peyton Taylor finally secured the win by getting Kylie Kelly to fly out to Makayla Meeks in left field.
It was all Spartanburg Methodist College in game two of the tourney for PCC. The contest began Friday afternoon but was delayed by rain until Saturday morning with the Pioneers ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first. Unfazed by the mid-game break when action resumed, SMC held a 5-0 lead after two innings were in the books before adding a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth to end the game early by an 8-0 count.
Later on Saturday, the Bulldogs raced out to a 5-0 advantage over USC-Sumter in the first two innings. A two-run double from Haley Warren highlighted the top of the first for Pitt while a three-run homer from Moss provided the fireworks in the second.
The Fire Ants answered with their first score in the bottom of the second inning, however, and erupted for six in the fourth to pull ahead for good at 7-5. Runs by Sumter in the fifth and sixth closed out the scoring, as the Fire Ants sealed the victory and eliminated Pitt (28-16 overall, 7-11 Region X) from postseason play.
USC-Sumter went on to defeat Louisburg College in nine innings, 4-3, before falling to Spartanburg in the championship, 13-2. Having claimed the conference title, the Pioneers will now move on to the district tourney in Alabama for the right to advance to the national championship next month in St. George, Utah.