St. Joseph Lady Eagles advance to softball state semi-finals

Defeat Georgetown, 8-5; will play at 11 a.m. Saturday

The St. Joseph Lady Eagles advanced to the Class-C state semi-finals during the Fast Pitch 56 Softball Tournament on Friday afternoon with an 8-5 win over the Georgetown Lady Bulldogs in the state quarterfinals. St. Joseph, the number two seed in the tournament, improved to 20-4 overall on the season while Georgetown dropped to 11-11 to finish the year. The tournament is being played at Frasch Park in Sulphur.

The Lady Eagles will face Northside Christian, last year's state runnerup, in the state semi-finals. Northside Christian edged Plainview, 3-1 Friday in the other state quarterfinal game. Northside Christian will enter the game with a 20-2 overall record as they are the number three seed in the playoffs. The first pitch is set for 11 a.m. at Field 19.

If the Lady Eagles defeat Northside Christian they will play in the state finals at 5 p.m. on Field 13.

Against Georgetown, pitcher Macey Firmin struggled but picked up the pitching win to improve to 20-4 on the season.

It was the bats of St. Joseph that came alive in the game. The Lady Eagles scored six runs in the first inning and never trailed in the game. Emily Link paced St. Joseph with three hits in her four trips to the plate. She scored two runs and had an RBI. Three-time All-State junior Tiffany Knight added two hits in three trips to the plate and scored two runs. Alexis Barker  had a hit, three RBI and scored a run,

St. Joseph had a 8-3 led heading into the top of the seventh inning. Georgetown scored two runs but never had the tying run at the plate.