Holly Springs topples Panther Creek for SWAC softball lead

Sophomore Shelbie Summerlin hammered three triples, her final one driving in three runs, to help lead Holly Springs past previously unbeaten Panther Creek 11-6 in Southwest Wake Athletic Conference action on Friday.

The Golden Hawks (6-1, 4-0) belted out 16 hits in all, and broke open a tie game with a five-run sixth inning.

“Since Monday, I’ve been preaching to my girls that in order to beat Panther Creek they’ve got to hit the ball,” said Holly Springs coach Emily Pierce. “If we didn’t show up ready to hit we were going to go down, because we knew Panther Creek would hit the ball.”

Brittany Brown, the Golden Hawks’ No. 9 hitter, led off the decisive inning with a single. Alex Frothingham also singled, and then Logan Sellman drove in Brown, the go ahead run. After a base hit by relief pitcher Sydney Collins, Summerlin lowered the boom on her third triple.

“I told Shelbie before the game she needed to be ready to hit line drives (to the gap), and she stepped up and was ready to go,” Pierce said. “She was impressive tonight for sure.”

Summerlin scored the final run on Abby Anderson’s third base hit of the game.

The Hawks led 5-1 after four innings, but the Catamounts (7-1, 5-1) roared back with four in the top of the fifth.

Vianna Rodriguez slammed a two RBI triple to plate Caroline Zuber and Rachel Johnson. Hannah Rosenberger drove in Rodriguez, and then she scored the tying run on a Kylie Latino double.

Panther Creek posted 10 hits, but the Catamounts left six runners stranded in scoring position. This was especially costly early in the game, when Hawks starter Alyssa Brown worked her way out of a bases loaded jam and Frothingham made two clutch outs in right field on sharply hit line drives.

This story was originally published March 18, 2017 at 3:23 AM with the headline "Holly Springs topples Panther Creek for SWAC softball lead."