Louisa County softball made some history Thursday night with a fifth-inning offensive explosion.
The Lions, who’d already qualified for the state tournament by virtue of a region semifinal victory over Blacksburg, won the first region championship in program history with a 5-1 victory over Halifax to take home the Region 4D championship.
The Lions will host Tuscarora Tuesday in the state quarterfinals at 6 p.m. with a spot in the state final four on the line.
Beating the Comets was no easy task either as Halifax took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a throwing error during a rundown. But after that, some lights out defense behind pitcher Emily Gillespie who struck out seven and threw a four-hit, two-walk complete game helped set the stage for an offensive explosion in the bottom of the fifth.
Emily Chisholm led off the fifth inning with a home run and Louisa then went on a tear. Laci Garrett singled, then Savannah Bragg knocked her in, then Dara Sharpe knocked her in and Alyssa Hopkins cracked her second triple of the game and brought Sharpe around and Gillispie grounded out to bring in courtesy runner Addison Smith.
Just like that, it was 4-1 Lions and Louisa was in complete control of the contest. Bragg and Hopkins finished with two hits each.
If the tight-knit Lions can keep finding solid pitching in Gillespie and locked in defense, they’ve got a chance to make a state tournament run.
They’ll start that journey Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
