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Columbia Academy falls in pitchers’ duel to Silverdale




Columbia Academy pitcher Anna Brewer gave up 10 hits to Silverdale Academy in the state tournament, but only saw a solo home run cross the plate in a 1-0 loss. CHRIS YOW / MAIN STREET MAURY

Braylee Raby’s solo home run in the bottom of the second inning was all Silverdale Baptist Academy needed to earn the revenge they’d been seeking for a full year, defeating Columbia Academy 1-0 in Wednesday’s winners bracket final of the Division II-A state softball tournament.

“We’ve been working all year to get here and play Columbia Academy,” Silverdale coach Jackie Freeland said. “This has been our goal since last season after we got knocked out before the (semifinals), so it’s been our goal to get back here and get to this point.”

Freeland’s Seahawks got a gem from pitcher Ella Cunningham in the circle, who got the complete game shutout. She was perfect through three innings and held a no-hitter until M.J. Harakas singled up the middle in the fifth. 

“Ella did a great job fighting every pitch and hitting her spots and our defense helped her out,” Freeland said. “When the pressure is on, she steps up and rises above it. I had no doubt she could do what she did.” 

Silverdale pitcher Ella Cunningham pitched a three-hit shutout against the 4-time defending state champions on Wednesday. CHRIS YOW / MAIN STREET MAURY

Columbia Academy coach Seth Anderson praised Cunningham’s performance, noting she was able to make his team make mistakes at the plate.

“She was able to throw the ball out of the zone and getting us to chase it. We have to make her throw more strikes,” he said. 

Cunningham relied on her screwball, curveball and change up to keep the Lady Bulldogs off balance. 

“Spinning the ball is most important to me. I don’t worry much about speed, I just try to spin the ball and that creates more popups and ground balls than anything,” she said. 

And popups she got – six, in fact – but she also struck out eight CA hitters.

“Trusting my defense and knowing they can make any play behind me really helps me in my mindset,” she said.

Going into the final frame of the contest, Columbia Academy sent the heart of the order to the plate, but both Tori Duval and Anna Brewer popped up to the infield. Down to its last out, CA got a 13-pitch at-bat from eighth-grader Kinslee Wilhelm before she singled past the second baseman. Behind her was Emmy McAdams, who wasted no time taking the first pitch to center field for a single. 

Columbia Academy’s 9-hole hitter M.J. Harakas broke up a no-hit bid in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s winners bracket final against Silverdale. CHRIS YOW / MAIN STREET MAURY

A groundout ended the game, but Anderson said he drew a lot of confidence from what he saw with two outs in the final at-bat.

“I took a lot out of that last inning. We found a way to get on even though we didn’t have a great game. We gave ourselves a chance,” he said. “We didn’t swing the bat well 1-9, so we have to be better.”

His team now faces an elimination game at 12 noon Thursday against Jackson Christian — another squad Columbia Academy defeated on the road to last year’s DII-A state championship — with the winner getting Silverdale in the finals. There, it would take two wins against the Seahawks for the Lady Bulldogs to claim a fourth consecutive title.

CA has already pulled that off this postseason, rallying from a Middle Region tournament loss to Donelson Christian with a pair of victories in the finals.

“We have a tougher road ahead, but I have all the confidence in the world in this group,” Anderson said.

Silverdale 1, Columbia Acad. 0

C 000 000 0 — 0 3 0

S 010 000 x — 1 10 0

Anna Brewer and Emmy McAdams. Ella Cunningham and Gabbie Hensley. W: Cunningham. L: Brewer. HR: Silverdale — Braylee Raby.