Altamont softball struggled to score early but broke through with key hits and baserunning late to grab a 5-2 win over Central A&M in the second semifinal game of their own Altamont 1A Regional on Wednesday night. The Lady Indians were able to load the bases in the top of the first inning, but were held scoreless after a strikeout ended the threat. The Raiders opened the game’s scoring with a run in the bottom half of the inning to lead 1-0 at the end of the first inning. After scoreless second and third innings, Altamont tied things up with two outs in the top of the fourth inning as Avery Fleeharty tripled and then scored when Alyssa Ruholl reached base on an error and Altamont toed the game at 1-1. An inning later, Cecilia Pearcy led off the top of the fifth inning with a triple and scored on an RBI groundout by Sophia Long to give the Lady Indians the lead, 2-1. Altamont held A&M scoreless again in the bottom of the fifth and started moving their offense early in the top of the sixth with Fleeharty drawing a leadoff walk before stealing second and advancing to third on a dropped third strike. Pearcy singled to score Fleeharty and then Pearcy scored on a single by Sophia Long, pushing the Altamont lead to 5-1. With courtesy runner Becca Swank in for the pitcher Long, Swank was brought in to score on a single by Adilynn Schnarre as the Lady Indians led 5-1 midway through the sixth inning. Central A&M scored their final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth to cut it to a 5-2 ballgame but Altamont held the Raiders in the seventh to close out the win and earn themselves a spot in the Championship game. Altamont is now 10-17 on the season and will face top-seeded Casey-Westfield at 4:30pm today in the Championship game at Gilbert Park.
Altamont Offense:
Avery Fleeharty – 1-4, BB, 2 R
Laila Hankins – 1-3, BB
Cecilia Pearcy – 2-3, BB, 2 R, RBI
Sophia Long – 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI
Ella Nelson – 2 BB
Adilynn Schnarre – 3-4, RBI
Kennedi Schultz – BB
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