Published Wednesday, April 30, 2008 11:44 PM
Updated Friday, May 02, 2008 3:33 PM

 

Call them ‘Champs’

Lady Stags reach Final Four with 4-0 shut out


History was made in Moncks Corner Wednesday night.

Behind the arm and bat of sophomore Taylor Luff, the Lady Stags captured the District 5 championship 4-0 over the Conway Tigers.

“This is a first in the history of Berkeley High School,” said Lady Stags coach Jesse Abrams. “To my knowledge no Berkeley softball team has advanced this far.”

First or second time the Lady Stags don’t care, Berkeley is one of four Lowcountry teams to battle for the Lower State championship and one of eight teams left in the entire state.

“This was a team effort and a testament to this team,” Abrams said. “They peaked at the right time. We’ve been up and down all season and there were times this year when we didn’t play very well, but we seemed to come together at playoff time and we’ve been riding that high ever since.”

Abrams said his Lady Stags did what they had to do when they had to in order to win ball games.

“If we needed a big hit, we got the big hit. If we needed the big stop in the field we got it. We’ve also been scoring early. It’s a lot easier to play a game up 3-0 than it is down 3-0.”

Luff carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning and supplied the big hit, a two-run double in the Lady Stags three-run first to give Berkeley a lead they would not relinquish.

“I’m just so excited I don’t know what to say,” she said. “This is totally awesome.”

The Lady Stags will play their Lower State semi-final game on the road at either South Florence or Fort Dorchester.

Contact Dan Brown at dbrown@berkeleyind.com