HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

FLORENCE – Pitch-wise, everything was on for Annie Ruth Eliason on Saturday.

With perhaps one minor exception, the West Florence right-hander said.

“My curveball was a little bit off today, but I still managed to get through,” Eliason said. “But yeah, everything went in my favor today on the mound.”

That might be an understatement as the Knights starter registered 16 strikeouts against Lugoff-Elgin in a dominant 4-1 victory as WFHS advanced to next weekend’s 4A lower state semifinals.

West (17-4) isn’t scheduled to play again until May 11 against a to be determined opponent. But whoever it is will have to beat the Knights twice in order to advance to the lower state championship series that begins May 14.

“We get a little chance to rest,” West coach Aundres Perkins said. “We’ve still got to get back to the drawing board – there’s still some things we need to work on. Obviously, we need to run bases better. I felt like we left some runs out there because we didn’t run the bases like we’re accustomed to.

“But overall, I’m proud of my girls. Good pitching again, good defense again and we just keep finding ways to scratch (out some runs).”

The Knights didn’t need many with how dialed in Eliason was. She allowed just three hits and no walks across seven frames and managed to strike out the side three different times.

“Just mixing up my pitches, making sure my spin’s on and everything like that,” Eliason said of her approach. “…Just focus on Mia (Boykin), focus on my catcher, focus on me and focus on my mechanics and make sure they can’t get solid hits off me.”

The only run against Eliason came in the sixth when Lugoff’s Ella Sheorn reached on a bunt single and eventually scored after a couple of wild pitches.

Meanwhile the West Florence offense continued its trend of having a different leader every game.

On Saturday, it was junior Ava Gainey’s turn as she went 3 for 3 and came through with the first big knock of the afternoon.

With the game scoreless in the bottom of the third, Gainey stepped to the plate with two on and one out. She lined a hard grounder to left field that scored both Toslyn Lynch and Charisma Williams, who had doubled.

Boykin followed two batters later with an RBI double and the Knights jumped to a 3-0 advantage.

“Last game I struggled at the plate,” Gainey said. “So, this morning I just woke up and said, ‘I’m going to hit the ball. I’m going to hit the ball today.’ I talked to my dad, and he told me I was going to hit the ball and gave me the most confidence I’ve had.

“…I went up and really just had confidence and swung the bat.”

There’s confidence across the board for his squad right now, Perkins added. West’s defense was sharp as well behind Eliason, committing no errors and coming up with solid plays when needed – including a crucial diving grab from center fielder Paityn Daniels in the fifth inning. Lugoff would have had two runners on with no outs had Daniels not come up with the catch.

“Just keep executing – that’s what I keep preaching,” Perkins said. “So we’ve got to keep executing (on) offense, defense and special teams. That’s what I tell the girls and they’ve seemed to buy in thus far.”

Williams finished with two hits for West while Hannah Marsik and Lynch each had one. Eliason also helped her own cause with a sacrifice fly in the sixth that accounted for the Knights’ final tally.

jdriggers@florencenews.com