By Tucker McLaughlin, Jr.
News & Record staff
It's now down to one-and-done for the Halifax County varsity softball team,
which starts Group AAA state tournament action tomorrow in Fairfax.
The Comet girls, now a no. 2 seed in state play, will meet Robinson Tuesday
night. HCHS lost a chance to host in state play with a tough 4-3 loss in
eight innings at Osbourn in the Northwest Regional finals Friday.
Gaqme time tomorrow for the HCHS-Robinson state tournament showdown is set  for 5 p.m. The Comets played very well at times Friday, and forged a comeback that forced extra innings. Halifax also missed chances to send Osbourn packing. Still, HCHS (21-4) is enjoying one of the best seasons by any spring sports team in school history. The Comets also get a fresh start, as all of the remaining 'Elite Eight' are 0-0 in the state tournament heading into
tomorrow's action. The Comets, representing the Northwest Region, will be paired against Robinson, which is the no. 1 seed in the Northern Region. This will also be Halifax's fifth postseason road game in a row.
--
Injury report: HCHS suffered an injury against Osbourn when Shayna Oakes was hurt going for a fly ball in the bottom of the sixth. She had to be assisted
from the field, and this may be a factor in the Comets' depth. --
Fatigue factor: HCHS had to travel three times in five days in regional
action. The Comets lifted starting pitcher Paige Rickman in the fifth. Comet coach Melanie Saunders said, "I know Paige was tired. She's pitched a heck of a three ballgames for us. I think we did the right decision by letting
Stephanie (Clark) come in. And of course we're all tired.
"But we played well on the road the last three games. And we'll go back on
Tuesday and do the same thing. "We won't try to let anything like that get in our heads," said Saunders. "We just come out here to play," she added. "Even though we lost this ballgame, lost to a good team. We played well, we hit the ball well against a good pitcher." Saunders said, "We're still playing better than we have all year long. We're haven't been to the state (in 17 years) and you've got to take their hats off to these kids, and realize they made it work together as a team."

MANASSAS - The most relevant statistical issue from Halifax County's 4-3
Northwest regional final loss at Osbourn, would be runners left on base.
HCHS stranded an even dozen Friday, leaving the bases loaded twice.
That shows how many opportunities the Comets had, as HCHS left three runners on in the fifth, two in the seventh and two more in the eighth.
Even with the loss, however, these Comets have played their hearts out with
one of the best, deep postseason runs in recent school history.
Despite one that got away - helped by a late pivotal call by the umpires
that went against the Comets - the season is not over. If HCHS, which had a four-game winning streak snapped here, wins tomorrow at
Robinson, the Comets go to Newport News for the state semifinals. The
regional final established a champion for that level and established state
seeding. Osbourn (23-3) won the right to open state quarterfinals play at home
against the no. 2 seed in the Northern Region, Stone Bridge.
Comet coach Melanie Saunders was disappointed, but still upbeat heading into
state play. "They're (Osbourn) a good team. They hit throughout the whole game, so did we. They got the lucky break at the end. "Both teams made some crucial errors at times in the game, but also both teams came in and hit the ball.
"We had scoring opportunities, several innings, but it's just a breaks.
Things happen, and that's why it's a ballgame, and you never know which way
it's going to go," said Saunders. The Eagles scored the winning run with two outs. Clark got an easy ground out, and followed with another stab for the second out. But Dana Woodsmall singled to center. Lori Botkin hit a bloop that dropped in, on an error by Liz Trickey.Cindy Moore then reached on an ground ball. HCHS' Lashunda Davis tried to get a forceout at third with a relay to Key Ferrell, but the runner, Woodsmall, was called safe.
The bases were loaded. "We had 'em out on third," said Ferrell afterwards. "It was a force play." Caitlyn Davis then stroked the game-winning single past second to get Woodsmall home with the winning run.
Osbourn coach Renee Leake said of the play at third, "Dana WoodsmallSif she
gets on, we're going to move her. She and my leadoff are the two quickest
girls. "Definitely saw her at second, knew we could bring her to three," said
Leake. "People got their money's worth, that's for sure," said Leake of the
thriller. "We knew it was going to be a great game like this. This was the
third game of the week for everybody, so (fatigue) came into play a little
bit at the end." HCHS got on the board first, and had a chance to all but blow it happen. With one out, Ally Thompson got a contact hit, and Betty Rose followed with a solid shot past first. Davis then reached on a tough play for the pitcher that was scored an error, and the fleet-footed junior reached to load the
bases. Ferrell drove the ball past the second baseman, who could not get a handle on the ball. The ball got under the reach of the centerfielder, and two runs scored. Heather Hudson walked to load the bases, but Amber Bowman flied out. But Osbourn came right back scored twice against Paige Rickman, snapping a 24-inning scoreless streak dating back to the win over Franklin County. Osbourn got a solid bunt and a single, and then another bunt to move two runners into scoring position. Ashleigh Williams followed with an RBI
single. The Eagles got another run on an RBI fielder's choice by Brittany
Barlow. Rickman survived a Davis error and got the final out.
The game moved on, as both pitchers settled down. Osbourn grabbed a 3-2 lead in the fourth. Davis started the inning with some sparkling defense for the first out of the inning. But Jasmin Powell got a four-pitch walk. She was bunted to second, and HCHS gave up a run on an RBI single by Lori Botkin, with the Comets a little slow to get the ball back into the infield. Rickman was lifted for reliever Stephanie Clark after a leadoff single in the fifth. Rickman finished with four innings of work, with three runs and six hits allowed.
Clark battled through the fifth, stranding one Osbourn runner in that
inning. Clark also stranded two in the sixth, and one in the seventh.
Davis made another nifty defensive play, turning a double play to get
Halifax out of a potential jam. Meanwhile, HCHS had some chances to swing the momentum decisively back in their favor, even after forcing a deadlock that sent the game into extra innings. The Comets left the bases loaded in the fifth, after a pair of two-out walks. HCHS tied the game in the top of the sixth inning, showing solid fundamentals. Hudson lined a sharp leadoff double. She was bunted to third by Bowman. With two out, Clark drilled an RBI single to right to tie the game at 3-3, but the inning ended on a flyout.
The seventh and eighth innings had to be particularly frustrating for the
Comets. HCHS got back to back hits with one out in the seventh, with Davis
eventually reaching third. Ferrell was on at first, giving Halifax runners
at the corners. But the Comets couldn¹t get any offense going in this
situation to break the deadlock. HCHS had two runners in scoring position in the top of the eighth, as Trickey reached third after an error and Clark doubled.
That put two Comets into scoring position with one out. Ally Thompson fanned and Betty Rose grounded out, as the Comets could not push a run across.
Osbourn then sealed the win in the bottom of the eighth. The Eagles finished with four runs, ten hits and four errors. HCHS had three runs, eight hits and two errors. Davis said, "I think we played a heck of a ballgame tonight. We had a whole lot of heart. We showed a whole lot of confidence.
"I think we're going to come back Tuesday and winSand win next week and
hopefully be state champions," said Davis. "We're as good as any team out there. We just keep heart, we can do it," said the Comet standout.
Ferrell noted, "We had baserunners on in every inning, and we just didn't
get the hits when we needed 'em." Asked how the Comets can bounce back, Ferrell said, "this is the best team I've been on since high school ball. We've been closer than any other team I've ever seen, so I know we'll rebound from it and do what we need to do on  Tuesday."