Fans in neon came out to support Fred T. Foard in the 3-A high school state softball championship.
Jun 3, 2012
The big bat of Meredith Burroughs was the difference for Pikeville Charles B. Aycock on Sunday afternoon.
Burroughs hit two home runs in her first two trips to the plate and drove in five to lead the Golden Falcons to a convincing 7-2 decision over Newton Fred T. Foard in the third and decisive game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 3-A softball championship series.
Burroughs hit her 18th and 19th homers of the season in the decisive game to tie the state record for home runs in a single season. She was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship series.
A two-run shot by the left-handed hitting sophomore made it 2-0 Aycock in the first, and then a three-run blast in the third moved the score to 5-0. Aycock added a pair of runs in the fourth for a 7-0 advantage.
Foard answered with two runs in the top of the fifth on RBI singles by Abby Bolick and Mackenzie Dziendziel, but could get no closer.
Brooke Bell was the winning pitcher for Aycock, although the Tigers outhit the winners 6-4. She struck out five and didn't walk a batter. Lexi Shubert was the loser, with 11 strikeouts and three walks.
Cierra Shull and Dziendziel each had two hits for Foard, which finished 26-6 overall.
The Golden Falcons had rallied from a game down in the series, as Ivy Hartzell had a pair of hits and drove in two runs to help lift Aycock to a 4-3 decision over in the second game on Saturday afternoon, earning a split.
Foard had won the opening game of the series earlier on Saturday by 1-0 in nine innings, snapping a 26-game Aycock winning streak. Senior first baseman Rebecca Rowe drove home the only run of the game and Shubert was the winning pitcher, striking out 11 and walking only one, and also had two hits.
Aycock finished the season with a 31-3 record. It was the eighth trip to Walnut Creek for the softball finals in the last 13 years for Aycock but its first fast-pitch state title.
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