FLORENCE, S.C. – The first inning is always a feeling out process for Annie Ruth Eliason.
“I’m always a little off in the first inning – I mean I’m not completely locked into the game (pitch-wise),” the West Florence junior said of her first frame Wednesday against Lugoff-Elgin. “Then after that, I knew I needed to lock in and pitch good for my team.”
Eliason was more than locked in during the Knights’ 5A Division II playoff opener. She allowed just three hits in a complete-game effort and finished with 19 strikeouts as West won 8-0 to advance in the winner’s bracket of District 4.
It was quick turnaround for WFHS, however, as it traveled to St. James on Thursday. The Knights (18-7) fell 2-0 and will host either Conway or Lugoff-Elgin on Monday.
“I thought about it a little bit tonight,” Eliason said of her high strikeout total in Wednesday’s victory. “But I didn’t really let it affect me. This team’s a great hitting team – they have great swings, so I knew I still had to pitch my ‘A’ game to shut them down.”
The first 15 outs by Lugoff-Elgin all came via the punchout, with a walk and two singles the only blemishes against Eliason through five frames.
“When she gets in a groove, you can tell she’s tough to beat,” Knights interim coach Randy Locklair said. “First couple of innings were a little bit difficult for her, but she got in a groove and really shut them down from there.”
Aside from one of her low pitches, her entire arsenal was working Wednesday, Eliason said, especially her changeup. She threw 73 of her 122 pitches for strikes and was able to retire the side in order three times.
The Knights’ offense scored early and late to back their starter. West took a 3-0 lead after two innings and broke the game open in the fifth with a five-run outburst.
Hannah Marsik had two hits and drove in three runs to lead WFHS. She nearly connected on a grand slam in the fourth but the ball was caught at the top of the wall for the final out.
Charisma Williams and Kendra Howle each had two hits with both driving in a run as well. Paityn Daniels plated two runs for the Knights and Tolsyn Lynch added another.
The only area of concern for Locklair came on the basepaths. One runner was doubled off second on a popup in the first and another was picked off of third the very next inning to limit the damage done by West’s bats.
“The biggest thing (from) tonight is we’ve got to stop the baserunning mistakes,” Locklair said. “We’ve got to get them in. We got picked off a few times – their catcher is really good and I told them she’ll throw down and she did. We had to learn the hard way.
“But we’ve got to continue to swing the bats and let (Eliason) do her thing on the mound.”
May 8, 2025 | Morning News (Florence, SC)
Author/Byline: Justin Driggers | Section: Sports