Lady Cougars Advance to Final Four

Piedmont Academy’s softball team punched its ticket to the GISA Class AA Final Four by winning a best-of-three series against Citizens Christian Thursday in Douglas.

The Lady Cougars will now face Windsor Academy in a 2-of-3 series Saturday at Southern Pines Regional Park in Dublin. Games are set for 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. and again at 7 p.m., if necessary.

In the quarterfinal round, Piedmont won the first game 9-4.

“This was a tight game for several innings, then we kind of broke it open late,” said coach Daniel Funt. “We pitched well and played solid defense. We got several key hits as well. The bottom of the order did a great job getting on base.”

Citizens Christian then took a 6-2 win in the second game to stay alive.

“We struggled on defense a little bit,” Funt said. “Offensively, we hit a lot of pop ups and just didn’t adjust to their pitching.”

In the third and deciding contest, Piedmont fell behind 6-0 before ultimately rallying for an 11-9 victory. It proved to be a long road back for the Lady Cougars who also trailed 7-2 at one point.

Piedmont scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning to pull within 7-6. The Lady Cougars then scored five in the top of the sixth inning to lead 11-7.

“We then held on for the last two innings,” Funt said. “We settled down defensively and then offensively we got hot.”

The ability to never give up is something which Piedmont’s coach said was impressive in the Thursday series.

“Each team member contributed at some point during the day,” Funt said. “It was a team effort. We wish to thank our fans for being there to support us. This team has a great chance. They know what they need to do and now they just have to go out and do it.”

The Lady Cougars enter the semifinals at 19-11-1 overall.

Piedmont Academy will send a fan bus to Dublin for the Windsor series. The bus will leave the school at 1 p.m. Cost to ride is $5 per person.