Friday evening at the Salem Civic Center the Lady Spartans of Salem left the gate open.
Cave Spring galloped out in a stampede.
Set to pull off the ultimate River Ridge softball upset with a 2-0 lead and Cave Spring down to its final three outs, Salem could only watch as the Lady Knights scored six runs in the top of the seventh to escape with the 6-2 victory.
“Our pitching just ran out and we helped them out with two errors,” Salem head coach Jeff Shupe noted afterward. “You can’t do that against a team like Cave Spring. We played some great softball but needed to finish it up.”
The game was a pitching duel through 5 1/2 innings between Cave Spring all-state pitcher Taylor Asimakopoulos and Salem standout hurler Andrea Christian.
Cave Spring had its leadoff batter on base in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before Christian shut the door. Salem had a runner at third with one out in the fifth before Asimakopoulos returned the favor.
Salem broke the 0-0 deadlock in the bottom of the sixth when Kelsey Johnson singled to short and Haellie Gordon drew a base on balls. Haley Thomas followed with a diving liner to left that skipped to the fence, scoring Johnson and Gordon for a 2-0 Spartan advantage.
Cave Spring wasted no time in its last at-bat.
Cassi Parulis opened with a single. One out later, Hailey Sitze singled, putting runners at the corners. Sitze stole second to put the tying runs in scoring position and Kelsey Overfelt singled, scoring Psarulis to cut the Salem lead to 2-1.
After Overfelt stole second to again put Knight runners at second and third, Jordan Clifton laced a bullet to short that drew hesitation by Salem on the throw that loaded the bases.
Asimakopoulos followed with a deep drive to the base of the left field fence, scoring two and giving Cave Spring its first lead at 3-2.
“I thought it was over the fence when I hit it, “Asimakopoulos said with a smile after the game.
Kylie Kent gave the Knights some insurance when she tripled to right for two more runs and Pami White put the exclamation point on the rally with a RBI double into the gap.
“I was just trying to get a hit, ” Kent noted of her key three-bagger. “Once it got over the right fielder’s head, it was third all the way.”
Cave Spring improved to 12-1 on the season, mirroring Asimakopoulos’ record from the circle.
“We do well when we’re down,” Kent added. “This team never gives up.”
Bill Turner
