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Alexander Central advances to Final Four

By W.D. Fisher | Hickory Daily Record

Published: May 31, 2009

TAYLORSVILLE - For the past year, Alexander Central Head Coach Monte Sherrill and his squad has had a bitter taste in their mouths after being knocked out in the first round of the 2008 4A state softball playoffs.

Freshman right-hander Chelsea Wilkinson limited Ardrey Kell to one hit and the Cougars took advantage of some early opportunities en route to a 4-0 win in the fourth round of the 4A state softball playoffs at Central Park Saturday.

"We're back on track," said Sherrill. "Last year, we got beat out in the first round and it didn't sit well with me or my players all year long. We made a commitment that we were going to practice in the offseason and get back to where we belong."

Alexander Central (28-1), the top seed out of the Northwestern 4A, faces North Davidson (26-1), the top seed out of the Central Piedmont Conference Friday at Walnut Park Softball Complex in Raleigh in the Final Four double-elimination event.

Game times will be announced on Monday.

North Davidson advanced to the Final Four by defeating North Mecklenburg in its fourth-round game 2-0.

Alexander Central is ranked first in the state in 4A in the North Carolina High School Softball Coaches poll, and North Davidson is ranked second.

Nationally, the Cougars are ranked fifth in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, and North Davidson is ranked 19th.

Five-time state champion Alexander Central is making its first appearance in the Final Four after an eight-year absence.

The last appearance for the Cougars was in 2001, when they lost to Butler in the semifinals.

"We have talked about getting back on track," said Sherrill. "I feel like we have come full circle back from 2001. We have made tremendous strides as a program in the last year."

The last state title for the Cougars was in 1996.

In Saturday's win, Wilkinson with some solid defensive support shut down Ardrey Kell's offense that entered the game having outscored its first three opponents 30-5.

Wilkinson didn't walk a batter and struck out four.

The lone hit was a leadoff single in the fifth inning by Stephanie Wood.

Wilkinson faced two over the minimum over the seven innings.

Wood reached for a second time in the ninth with one out when she was hit by a pitch.

Wilkinson kept the ball in play and let her defense work for her as 15 of the 21 putouts were via the ground ball.

"I tell her (Wilkinson) that you have to have a good bad day," said Sherrill. "That wasn't a great pitching performance but she let her teammates work behind her."

In the first four games of the playoffs, Wilkinson had allowed four runs off eight hits and struck out 40 in 26 innings.

The Cougars took advantage of some erratic pitching through the first two innings, and pushed across what proved to be the game-winning run in the second.

In the first two innings, Ardrey Kell (22-5) had five walks and three wild pitches.

"We were a little tight at the first," said Ardrey Kell head coach Bob Bove.

In the second, Alexander Central's Stephanie Krider walked, and made the score 1-0 two batters later when she scored on a ground out by Chelsea Sherrill.

Alexander Central added three insurance runs in the fifth.

The Cougars held hitless through three innings got all their three hits in the third and fourth innings.
Jessica Childers, Jordyn Setzer and Krider had one RBI each to round out the scoring.

"When they scored the three runs that made it difficult for us." said Bove. "If we could have gotten out of that inning with no runs, we might have been able to come back."