The Eagles put up six runs in the fifth inning to topple the Tigers 9-4
Centennials softball team erased a late 4-0 deficit to down Tigard 9-4 in a play-in qualifier game Tuesday.
The Eagles bounced back in the bottom of the fifth inning by putting eight straight runners on base with a series of singles. Centennial closed the gap when a wild pitch allowed Natalie McDonald to race home. In a moment of mayhem at the plate, Tigard lost its focus and Centennials C.J. Fitzgerald came storming in as well.
Tigers pitcher Lexi Kelly positioned herself in front of the plate, but Fitzgerald slid under the tag to tie the score 4-4.
They werent paying attention, and I figured this was my chance to score and get something started, Fitzgerald said. I noticed she had her glove up high, so I got my whole body down as low as I could.
Centennial moved ahead to stay when Madelyn Mesford sent an RBI-single to right field that brought in Jennifer Watkins.
The Eagles added three more runs in the sixth inning, while Tigard managed only one base runner down the stretch.
Reynolds picked up a 6-2 win over Century, while Gresham fell 9-4 at Crater.
On the baseball side, David Douglas won its play-in 3-2 at South Medford, while Centennial fell 20-1 at South Salem and Gresham fell 5-0 at Lincoln.
The 6A baseball and softball playoffs begin Monday, May 20.
Look for extended coverage of the softball play-in games in the Friday print edition.
View a photo gallery from the Centennial game at
http://daveball.exposuremanager.com/g/may14_cnt-tigard_softball