By Charlie Leffler
Media General News Services

For the third year in a row, the Cosby Titans softball team advanced to the Central Region semifinals. And for the third year in a row, the Titans went no further; this year falling to Lee-Davis 3-0.

Stepping onto the Prince George field in the semifinal against the Confederates, Cosby was known as one of the best hitting teams in the region. However, getting hits against Lee-Davis sophomore pitcher Kelly Heinz, put the Titans to a test. The Central Region Pitcher of the Year limited Cosby to three hits over seven innings in the shutout win.

“Offensively, we thought we’d do a little bit more,” said Cosby head coach Ray Jeter. Facing Heinz, the Titans recorded one hit through the first 4 2/3 innings of play.

Meanwhile, Titan’s starter Kelly Higbie showed her bounce-back power when two of the first four Confederate batters reached base in the top of the first. With runners on first and third, Higbie clamped down and caught L-D’s Taylor Melton looking, to escape the threat.

After going three and out in the bottom of the inning, Cosby faced a scoring threat from Lee-Davis again in the top of the second.  With one out, Heinz singled to right, and pinch runner Taylor Deemer took second on a sacrifice bunt from Rachel Houff.

This time, it was Cosby catcher Taylor Hall to the rescue, popping up to pick off Deemer at second and retire the Lee-Davis threat.

But the third time was the charm for the Confederates when freshman Haliegh Cottrell led off the top of the next inning with a bunt single down the first base line. A ground out by Charyssa Parent moved the runner to second, and Cottrell took third on a wild pitch. With two out, another pitch in the dirt allowed Cottrell to steal home for a 1-0 Lee-Davis lead.

The Titans threatened to tie the score in the bottom of the inning when Heather Sink dropped a two-out double over third base. A walk to Sarah Wiltshire allowed Sink to steal third, then Wiltshire stole second to put two Titans into scoring position.

But Cosby could not get a hit when they needed it most.

“We were just hoping for that hit,” Jeter said. “We weren’t able to string those hits together, and against a quality pitcher like (Hienz), it’s hard to do. We needed her to make a mistake, and she didn’t make many mistakes today.”

The Confederates threatened once again in the top of the fourth, loading the bases with one out on singles from Meredith Holmes, Casey Price and Heinz.

Higbie struck out Houff and forced Cottrell to ground out to end the threat.

Lee-Davis added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh, signaling an end to Cosby’s season for the third straight year in the regional semifinals.

“In this region, it’s just tough to jump in, take control and be dominant for many, many years,” Jeter said. “I think it’s just going to take a little more work for the kids and learning how to string those hits together.”

Charlie Leffler is the sports editor for the Mechanicsville Local and Goochland Gazette.

Lee-Davis…................001 000 2 — 3 9 0
Cosby…......................000 000 0 — 0 3 1
Heinz and Cottrell; Higbie and Hall.