NICEVILLE — An improbable season for Crestview High School’s softball team came to a disappointing end Wednesday in the District 1-7A tournament semifinals against Tate.
Bulldog batters were baffled by Aggie senior pitcher Tori Perkins. Perkins threw a no-hitter while walking just two Crestview batters as Tate rolled to a 9-0 win.
Crestview-Niceville softball photos>>>
The closest the Bulldogs (12-12) got to a hit was when Taylor Henderson led off the game and grounded out to shortstop on a bang, bang play at first base. Perkins got out of the first with routine ground balls by Alyssa McLaughlin and Taylor Rolison and was never really challenged after that.
Taylor Bumgardner walked to lead off the Bulldog third, but she was thrown out on an attempted steal. Rolison was the only other Bulldog base runner as she walked with two outs in the seventh.
The Aggies scored their first run in the bottom of the third. Hayden Lindsay tripled to lead off the inning. With two out she scored as Savannah Rowell reached on an error.
“I thought we were going to hang in there,” Bulldog coach Holly Gibson said. “It was 1-0 going into the fifth inning. I think if we had stayed in it from that first error (in the third) we would have been in it.
The error throws them off every time. We are just super young. I’m proud of them.”
Tate (21-4) scored four runs in the fifth and added four more in the sixth. Rowell had the big hit in the fifth, a two-run to score Lindsay and Sam Burks.
Lauren Brennan hit a two-run homer with Izzy Werdann on base in the sixth to spark the Tate rally.
The Aggies touched Rolison for 10 hits. Rolison had six strikeouts to finish the season with 266 in 155 innings of work.
Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview falls to Tate in district tournament (PHOTOS, VIDEO)