Lady Jackets fall to No. 1-ranked Bears
Mar. 15—On the same evening that Lee County's baseball team was on the road as MaxPreps' top-ranked 3A team in the East, the softball team had to hit the road and also play an early-season No. 1-ranked opponent.
For the Lady Jackets, it was a short trip up the highway and a date with undefeated Chatham Central, which had outscored its first four opponents by a composite score of 55-8 to grab the top spot in the 1A East rankings. The Lady Bears haven't been picking on anyone their own size, but instead have beaten up on nothing but 2A and 3A opponents. In fact, they are presently ranked 11th in the entire state, at any classification.
Lee County became the latest team to wander into the Bears' den Wednesday evening, and did better than most of the others had. Chatham Central won the game 6-0, but Lee pitcher Savanna Mullins became the first opposing hurler to hold the Lady Bears to single-digit runs this season.
The problem for Lee was simply that they had no answer for freshman pitcher Maddie Kaczmarczyk, who many of the Lady Jackets have played with and against in the past on the travel-ball circuit. Last July, Kaczmarczyk pitched the West Chatham All-Stars, a team that included players from both Lee and Chatham counties, to the Dixie Softball U15 state title.
On Wednesday, she threw a two-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts at the Lady Jackets. She is hitting .556 this season and is 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA on the mound, with 30 strikeouts in 18 innings.
Central scored twice in the first inning, added one in the fourth, and then pulled away with three in the sixth. Central was credited with 13 hits, including three by Sallie Oldham and Katherine Gaines; and two each by Shelby Holder, Caleigh Warf, and Kaczmarczyk. Mullins kept the damage down by not walking but two batters, but she and catcher Kallie Byrd were the only Lady Jackets to get a hit off Kaczmarczyk. Mullins, a senior who was SAC Pitcher of the Year in 2023 and will play for Gaston College next year, also got on base via a walk.
The Lady Jackets will try to get on track Friday night, when they visit Pinecrest.
