By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

BOONVILLE -- Starmount softball coach Heather Courts didn't know what to expect after watching her team get ready for Friday night's state playoff game against Central Davidson.

"We looked awful during warm-ups," she said. "I thought, oh my goodness, because we warmed up terribly."

But then the game began, and the Rams treated their coach and fans to one of their most valiant efforts of the season -- against the two-time defending state champions no less.

When the dust settled more than two and a half hours later, Central Davidson emerged the winner, 3-0. But the Spartans and star pitcher Chelsea Leonard had to go 11 hard-fought innings before escaping Boonville with the victory.

Leonard handcuffed the Rams' bats to the tune of 26 strikeouts and only one hit allowed. But Starmount and its ace pitcher, freshman Courtney Groce -- yes, she's just a ninth-grader -- also refused to yield until deep into extra innings.

"We battled," Courts said. "Last year, we go over there and got beat 10-0 in five innings. This year was a completely different story. They've earned themselves a lot of respect this year."

While Central Davidson marches toward a possible state three-peat, Starmount's season ends at a satisfying 23-3. The other two losses came against stellar foes -- East Surry (still alive in the 1A playoffs) and Forbush (a perennial 2A power that shared the conference championship with Starmount this spring).

"We've never had a season like this," said Courts, who has coached fastpitch at the school for a decade. "There has never been a Starmount softball team play that well and have that kind of record. And we're still young. We have one senior."

Central Davidson, which just got Leonard back a few weeks ago following a five-month recovery from knee surgery, survived its second straight extra innings playoff thriller. The Spartans needed eight innings to get past South Iredell 1-0 on May 19. Central faced Mount Pleasant on Tuesday night in a third-round game.

“We were just fortunate to get some runs across tonight,” Central coach Gene Poindexter said after Friday’s win. “My hat goes off to (Starmount). It was a great ball game. Heather does a great job with them.”

Friday night’s script was similar to the South Iredell game for Central Davidson, only longer.

The lone hit that Leonard allowed came against the Rams' No. 8 batter, sophomore Rebecca Aplin, in the sixth inning.

Central Davidson played flawless defense behind their star hurler. Like the win against South Iredell, the Spartans pounced following a Starmount error to start the 11th inning.

Kara Lohr stroked a single up the middle, but the ball skipped through the legs of the Rams centerfielder. Lohr reached third base on the play.

Two batters later, Lohr came home on a fielder’s choice hit from Whitney Lohr. Starmount shortstop Chelsea Varner tried to gun down Kara Lohr at the plate, but the Spartan runner was ruled safe, finally breaking the long 0-0 stalemate.

Carley Tysinger followed with a double to deep center to put runners on second and third. Whitney Lohr came home on a sacrifice fly from Jazmine Charles to make the game 2-0 — all but a lock with Leonard coming back to pitch the bottom of the 11th.

Emma Comer then put things out of reach with a smoker up the first base line that drove Tysinger home.

Comer, a sophomore, and Tysinger, a freshman, were the pitchers Central Davidson (16-7) relied on during the season while Leonard was on the mend. On Friday night, the two helped out their senior leader from the plate.

“Whatever you say about Chelsea, those girls got us here,” Poindexter said. “They held the fort down, and I put them through a pretty dang tough schedule, because when I made the schedule I thought I was going to have Chelsea.

"When you go play North Davidson, Alexander Central, Southwest Randolph, teams from Pennsylvania, Ledford twice ... Everybody we played was ranked in the top 10 in the state. We didn't shy away from anybody."

Starmount wasn’t alone in shooting blanks against Leonard. The future Louisville Cardinal was 29-0 last season with a 0.07 ERA. In her first two playoff games this spring, she’s fanned 46 in 19 innings.

The Rams’ best chances to do anything against Leonard came in the fifth and sixth frames.

Ashlee Handy, a sophomore who had game-winning hits in two previous Starmount victories over West Davidson (first round of the playoffs) and Forbush (conference tournament championship), led off the fifth with a hard hit ball to center. But Tysinger tracked it down for the out.

Nichole Hutchens followed with a first-pitch liner to left field that Laura Fritts snared. Leonard got the next batter, Jessica White, to strike out.

Aplin’s hit in the sixth was a nubber that went deep in the hole between first and second base. She beat out the throw and eventually made it to second base on a passed ball.

Aplin was the only runner the Rams had in scoring position. But Starmount couldn’t move her any further along.

“Chelsea is such a good pitcher,” Courts said. “She’s got a lot of pitches and her pitches move so much. Every pitch moves and drops and goes here and there."

Central Davidson nearly pushed runs across in the fourth inning, but the Rams got out of that jam by turning a double play. With runners on the corners, Charles laid down a bunt. Groce scooped it up, looked Nicole Perry back at third and then fired to Jana Matthews at first for one out.

Perry tried to come home anyways, and Matthews zipped the ball to catcher Jessica White for the second out. White's tag just barely beat Perry's slide into home.

The Spartans also threatened in the eighth inning, loading the bases with one out. But Groce, who finished with a 17-2 pitching record, got Perry to pop out to short and Whitney Lohr to fly out to right field.

“Bases loaded with one out and I’ve got my No. 2 hitter up, our leading RBI hitter by far. I must be the dumbest third base coach in America if I can’t get one in right there,” Poindexter said. “But stranger things have happened. This game is a game of inches. If we hit that ball just a little but further down the bat, it’s in the gap somewhere and I’m doing the merry-go-round (waving runners around).

“That’s why it’s a fun game to watch.”

Groce allowed seven hits on the night. She struck out seven and did not walk anyone.

"You can't be happier with a freshman who comes out and does the job that she just did," Courts said. "That was just amazing. If Central Davidson doesn't have their girl on the mound, it would have been a different situation."

Which is why Starmount softball fans should be excited for the future. Leonard graduates, while Groce has three years of eligibility remaining. Everyone else on the field for Starmount Friday night except for Matthews (a Charleston Southern signee) is slated to return as well.

Five from that group -- Handy (2B), Nichole Hutchens (3B), Jessica White (catcher), Brittany White (CF) and Aplin (RF) are sophomores. Other starters Chelsea Varner (SS), Carla Cave (LF) and Maygan Baldwin (RF/DP) are juniors. Plus the Rams had a solid JV season and will welcome other potential standouts from the middle school level into their fold in 2009-10.

"It's going to be a good year next year," Courts said. "You've got the five sophomores, and they played for me as freshmen last year. And the juniors (except for Baldwin, a transfer this year) have played for me since they were freshman. I think that's what helped us a lot this year, the fact that they played last year and they got the nerves out of the way. This year, they settled in and did better than I expected them to do."

Poindexter said he wouldn’t be surprised to see his Spartans and Courts’ Rams become playoff rivals in the years to come.

“We’re going to come up here one day or they are going to come to our place one day and it’s going to be a different story,” Poindexter said. “I know, because Heather coaches hard and she has a good program up here.”

Central Davidson 3, Starmount 0
2A State Playoffs, Second Round • Friday • at Boonville

Central Davidson 000 000 000 03 -- 3 7 0
Starmount 000 000 000 00 -- 0 1 2

WP: Chelsea Leonard. LP: Courtney Groce (17-2)

Notes: Starmount's season ends at 23-3, the best fast-pitch record in school history.