The Lady Indians wrapped up a share of the Panhandle Conference Championship on Sunday with a 5-4 win over Pensacola State College. The win also solidified a berth into the 2021 FCSAA State Softball Tournament. Chipola will be the runner-up from the Panhandle Conference in the state tournament by virtue of losing the head-to-head battle, three games to two, with the Lady Pirates.
Sunday's game was a continuation of a game from March 31 that was postponed due to inclement weather. Sunday's continuation began with the Lady Indians batting in the bottom of the first with no outs and Chipola's lead-off hitter, Karlee Back, on first.
After Ava Worthy reached on an error to put runners at first and second, Gabby Bess singled to score Back and give the Lady Indians an early 1-0 lead.
Chipola would add two more runs in the second inning. Marley Sims and Madisyn Riggins singled to lead off the inning and Kinzie Nelson followed with a single of her own that scored Sims. Riggins would score from third later on in the inning on a wild pitch. Sims and Riggins finished the game with two hits each.
The Lady Pirates cut the lead to 3-1 in the top of the fifth on a home run but the Lady Indians came right back with two runs of their own. Gabby Bess picked up her second hit of the day with a lead off single and scored on Zayla McBurrow's line drive 2-run home run to left field.
The Lady Pirates continued to fight and scored three in the top of the sixth to cut Chipola's lead to one, 5-4.
In the seventh, McBurrows retired the side in order to seal the victory for the Lady Indians.
Zayla McBurrows was the winning pitcher coming on in relief Leigha Kirby in the second inning. McBurrows allowed only three hits in the game and struck out ten Pensacola batters.
With the win, the Lady Indians moved up to 5th in the FCSAA Coaches' Poll. Next up is the State Tournament at Boombah Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood. The Lady Indians will face FCSAA #2 ranked and NJCAA #5 ranked College of Central Florida in the first round on May 7 at noon. To see more about the FCSAA State Tournament, click here.