Bears overcome storm to blank Union Academy, fall to South Stanly in second round

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BEAR CREEK — A couple of hours prior to first pitch, the idea that last Tuesday’s first-round playoff softball matchup between Chatham Central and Union Academy would send one of them home was the least of each team’s worries.

Instead, it was whether or not the game would be played at all.

After having it postponed once on Monday due to inclement weather, it appeared they’d have to throw in the towel once again with dark clouds flooding the sky just before first pitch, forcing Union Academy to make another 96-mile trip on Wednesday to try it all over again.

Even with a downpour ensuing, an unfavorable-looking radar prediction and fans huddling under shelters and umbrellas, though, the lineups were announced and the loudspeakers began playing the national anthem.

It didn’t matter if everything was soaked. It was time to play ball.

It would take a lot more than an hour and a half rain delay to slow down the Bears, who defeated Union Academy Cardinals, 8-0, to advance to the second round of the NCHSAA 1A softball playoffs.

“The girls really wanted to play and they kept saying, ‘Come on, coach. Come on, coach. Let’s play, let’s play,’” said Jerry Polston, the Bears’ head coach, after the first-round playoff win. “And so we thought, ‘You know what, if we can get this thing in, let’s get this thing in and go.’ We knew our infield was going to be in good shape because of the tarp. It soaked up the rain.”

Many of Chatham Central’s players were locked in, but nobody more so than sophomore pitcher Mary Gaines, who was an unhittable force for Cardinals batters.

Gaines (6.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, BB, 9 K) allowed just one baserunner all night on a walk to lead off the third inning and, instead of wearing down, her control and speed improved as the game progressed, sitting down six of her last nine batters faced on strikes.

Gaines, who was battling an illness early in the week, paired up with junior Taylor Poe (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, K) to pitch a no-hitter for the Bears, blanking a Union Academy team that averaged nearly 13 runs per game entering Tuesday night.

It wasn’t quite Michael Jordan’s legendary “flu” game, but it wasn’t far off.

“Mary’s been sick and almost didn’t play tonight, but she battled it, came back and took care of herself,” Polston said. “And it’s the control of her pitches, she’s learned how to be more than just a power pitcher. She’s learned how to move the ball.”

The Bears’ no-no was in jeopardy on occasion, but thanks to fantastic defensive plays — including a couple of off-balance catches in right field — it stayed intact.

Polston and his team pride themselves on their ability to stifle opponents with their defense.

“The defense played really, really well … we were error-free,” Polston said. “That’s kind of been our signature this year, good pitching and good defense.”

The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a wild pitch that allowed sophomore Jaylee Williams to score from third base, but it was the second inning when they truly began to pile it on.

Mary Gaines (3 BB) walked early in the inning, followed by Bears’ junior catcher Lindsey Johnson reaching on an error after the ball got away from the first baseman, putting two runners on with one out. Then, on one of her best offensive nights of the season, Williams came back to the plate and whacked a double to left-center field, driving in two runs and giving her team an even larger lead.

Williams — who scored on a passed ball later in the second to put the Bears up 4-0 — was a triple away from hitting for the cycle (a single, double, triple and home run in the same game). She racked up three hits, scored three times, drove in four runs and reached base on an error, acting as the team’s most important offensive player from the lead-off spot.

In the sixth inning, with the Bears ahead by six runs, 6-0, Williams was up to bat with a pinch-runner on second in place of Gaines — who walked for her third and final time — and knocked a deep ball to left field, driving in a run as she sped around the bases. Polston emphatically waved her home in a risky move as the ball was heading towards home plate, but she narrowly beat the tag to complete the inside-the-park home run.

“She wasn’t going to stop, I can tell you that right now,” Polston said, laughing. “I had the doggone roundhouse going and she knew she had to keep rolling, she saw that and lit up. … She’s really smart, she’s a really smart ballplayer.”

Union Academy sophomore starting pitcher Gracie Hollingsworth, who averaged over nine strikeouts a game this season, struck out 11 batters in her seven innings pitched but struggled to keep the Bears off base. She allowed eight hits and five walks — not counting the two errors on the Cardinals that resulted in a player reaching base — giving Chatham Central plenty of opportunities to add to its ever-growing lead.

Falling flat

The Bears’ commitment to what they do best is what set them apart from the Cardinals, preparing them for a road rematch with the top-seeded South Stanly Rowdy Rebel Bulls — to whom they lost, 2-1, on March 29, in one of their only two losses of the season — the next day.

“It was just a total team effort, just smart, fundamental softball,” Polston said. “We go to South Stanly tomorrow, that’s what we wanted to do. We played a 2-1 game over there before, didn’t hit the ball particularly well. … Both teams know they’re in for a battle.”

In the end, South Stanly — a team that’s allowed just 23 runs all season and has accounted for seven double-digit shutout victories in 15 games — got the best of the Bears, who dropped a 12-0 game on the road in Norwood, eliminating them from the playoffs in the second round.

Chatham Central is a team moving forward with plenty of promise. It has just three seniors — Mary Grace Murchison, Lindsay Polston and Katie Sanders — on its roster, while some of its brightest stars, including Gaines and Williams, have a couple of years left to grow and develop with the Bears.

It may not have been the desired result, but after a lost season in 2020, making it to the second round of the playoffs, allowing just 32 runs all year and being one of the most dominant teams in their conference is something to be proud of.

“It’s a blessing just to be able to coach and it’s a blessing just to be able to play,” Polston said after Tuesday’s game. “There are several kids who never get the opportunity to play this game and that’s who you play for.”

Reporter Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.