Top seeds Johnson and Reinhardt split fortunes as AAC Softball Tournament’s second day narrows field

The second day of the Appalachian Athletic Conference Softball Tournament trimmed the field Tuesday at Brickyard Ball Fields in Kingsport, Tenn., with Pikeville, Brenau, Johnson and Milligan each moving on in four games that ranged from a shutout to a 12-inning finish. No. 10 seed Columbia and No. 9 seed Spartanburg Methodist were eliminated, while the late slate also delivered a result that sent No. 7 seed Milligan past No. 2 seed Reinhardt.

No. 5 seed Pikeville opened the day’s action with a 5-0 win over No. 10 seed Columbia. The game stayed scoreless until the fourth inning, when Dani Crum singled to short to bring in the first run. Pikeville then broke it open with four runs in the seventh. Chloy Creech tripled down the left-field line for two RBIs in that inning, and Chloe Bryant added an RBI groundout. Crum finished 3 for 4 with an RBI and two stolen bases as Pikeville collected 10 hits. In the circle, Chloe Calton worked five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out three. Columbia managed five hits and did not commit an error, but left seven runners on base. Maddie Vaughn took the loss after working 6.1 innings.

In the second elimination game, No. 3 seed Brenau beat No. 9 seed Spartanburg Methodist 8-0, ending Spartanburg Methodist’s tournament run. Brenau scored once in the third, added two more in the fourth, then put the game out of reach with a four-run fifth before tacking on another run in the sixth. Peyton Hawkins delivered an RBI single in the third to open the scoring, Riley Smith tripled during the fourth-inning push, and Emma Folds drove in three runs as part of the middle-inning surge. Smith finished with three hits and two runs scored, while Hawkins had two hits and two RBIs. Riley Walker threw a six-inning shutout, allowing three hits and striking out six as Brenau out-hit Spartanburg Methodist 10-3.

The closest game of the day came in a 12-inning battle between No. 1 seed Johnson and No. 8 seed Columbia International. Johnson survived 6-5 after trailing early and then waiting until the bottom of the 12th for the winning run. CIU built a 2-0 lead in the second on Lilli Petty’s two-run triple, pushed the margin to 4-1 in the third, and added another run in the fifth. Johnson answered with a four-run sixth to pull even and then moved in front before the game stretched into extra innings. Adelaide Hubbard’s RBI single to right field in the 12th ended it. Petty went 4 for 6 with two triples and two RBIs for CIU, which finished with 13 hits but also committed five errors. Johnson totaled 14 hits. Emma Folds drove in three runs, Peyton Hawkins added two RBIs, and the top-seeded side advanced after the longest game of the day. Attendance for that game was 175.

The final game of the night produced another shift in the bracket, as No. 7 seed Milligan defeated No. 2 seed Reinhardt 6-3. Reinhardt scored in each of the first two innings to move ahead 3-0, but Milligan answered with a five-run fourth inning that changed the game. Jordan Roulettwheeler, Mollie Johnson and Sadie Shoun all figured into the rally, with Johnson doubling during the burst. Milligan added an insurance run in the seventh on Haley Vigil’s RBI single to left. Alana Parsons had two hits, including a double, and an RBI for Milligan, while Vigil also finished with two hits. Bree Presnell earned the win after throwing five innings. Reinhardt had 10 hits, led in part by Taylor Wade’s two-hit, one-RBI effort, but Milligan’s fourth inning proved decisive.

By the end of Tuesday’s play in Kingsport, the tournament picture had sharpened. Pikeville and Brenau advanced through the earlier games, Johnson survived the day’s most extended test, and Milligan produced the biggest bracket shakeup of the night. Columbia and Spartanburg Methodist were the two teams eliminated on the tournament’s second day, while the remaining field moved on with the bracket now shaped by a shutout, an extra-inning escape and a late-night upset.