PREP SOFTBALL: Bases full, Fullen empties them, as Abingdon tops Lee High on diamond (2024)

BRIAN WOODSONBRISTOL HERALD COURIER

ABINGDON, Va. - With the bases full, Abingdon turned to Aubree Fullen.

She delivered.

"I just wanted to get a base hit," Fullen said. "No matter if it was a ground ball or a line drive, I just needed a base hit."

The Abingdon junior was called upon to pinch-hit with bases loaded and one out in the top of the fourth inning. Despite a recent slump, Falcons' head coach Chelsea Campbell was confident enough to bring her off the bench against the favorites in the Mountain 7 District.

"To be honest with you until today Aubree has been my DP (designated player)," Campbell said. "I knew I needed a hit, I knew we had already been hitting and I knew she has power at the box. I had complete confidence in her that she wasn't not only going to get multiple runners in, but she was at least going to get a base hit so that is why I put her in that spot to come in and pinch-hit."

Fullen clobbered a fastball from Lee sophom*ore Chloe Bledsoe to the left-center field fence to score three runs, which would prove to be enough, as the Falcons topped the Generals 4-3 on Tuesday night at Lady Falcon Park.

"I was kind of nervous because I have been in a slump recently, but I knew going up to the plate I had nothing to lose," Fullen said. "We needed runs, I just went up there, I didn't overthink it and I just hit the ball."

For a moment it appeared the ball might clear the fence.

"I was running to first and I was like, 'oh my gosh, maybe it is going over,'" she said. "I have been hitting a lot of ground balls recently and just not been hitting to my full potential so this was really good for me to get back."

"She absolutely demolished it," added Campbell. "I think she has been at the DP for a couple of games and she does a great job at it, but I think she needed this huge hit to get back into what she knows how to do."

Freshman Mariah Branscomb, whose sister, Hailey, was pinch-hit for by Fullen in the fourth, was in trouble much of the game, but the Generals stranded 11 runners in seven innings, including seven in scoring position.

"Mariah pitched a great, great ball game," Campbell said. "She is only a freshman, she is tough, pitching is not really her primary spot and she went in tough today knowing what she needed to do, not only on the mound, but also in the box. She is an all-around competitor, she wants to win ball games, she wants to be here and she is a special freshman. I am happy to have her."

Lee head coach Samantha Ely lamented on all those runners left on base, including bases loaded with no outs in the third.

"You can't do that, nope. We didn't get the timely hits. We have got to score those runs," said Ely, whose Generals led 3-1 going to the bottom of the fourth. "They did what they are supposed to, they had three runners on, hit it to left-center and scored three runs right there, got ahead of us. They capitalized on it."

It was Abingdon's second win of the season over Lee, having won 10-5 in Ben Hur in the first Mountain 7 District game of the season.

"When we played them a couple of weeks ago at Lee, I preached to them that Lee is a really tough team and without a doubt is going to be the toughest team we play in the district. They have to be on their 'A' game. They have got hitters, they have got pitchers, their shortstop (Kinley Huff) is absolutely amazing," Campbell said. "They like to play regardless of how far they have to travel or where they need to go. They always come out to play hard."

Abingdon (5-4, 2-2) had dropped three straight, including an 13-3 loss to Wise County Central on Monday.

"I think the losses we have had the last couple of games, some really tough losses like we had yesterday, gave us fuel to get us back in and to beat Lee, which was great," Campbell said.

Lee (7-4, 4-2) scored twice in the second on a two-run single by Gracie Garrett, which drove in Taylor Bishop and Sybella Yeary, who had walked. Abingdon pulled within one against Bledsoe in the second on an RBI single by Alyssa Lindsey, which scored Muriel Dillow, who was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a passed ball.

Abingdon left 10 runners of its own on base, five of them in scoring position against the talented Bledsoe, who was staked to a 3-1 lead on an RBI triple by Chloe Calton in the top of the fourth.

"She pitched really well," Ely said. "I think she left that one that the girl hit to left-center hanging over the middle and she capitalized on it. They scored those three runs there that put us down and we just couldn't come back. We couldn't put the ball in play when we needed to, except for that one."

That "one" was a blooper to right field by Emma Fortner in the top of the sixth after Bledsoe had doubled. Ely thought the ball was short-hopped by Lindsey in right field, but Fortner was called out to end the inning.

"I think that could have changed the ball game," Ely said.

Calton and Huff, who had two hits each, joined Bishop in reaching base three times apiece for the Generals, who are coming off a best-ever 16-win season in 2023 and are now facing expectations not usually felt by the softball program in Ben Hur.

"We have got a lot of weight on our shoulders right now," Ely said. "We need to relax a little bit, play our game just like we did last year. Last year I don't think we had any weight on our shoulders, we just went out there and played ball and that is what we need to do this year."

Ely sees plenty of positives from the Generals, but there is work to do.

"I think overall our defense is pretty solid," she said. "I think the top of our lineup for the most part puts the ball in play and we have got to have that bottom of the lineup to get the timely hits just when we need them. We have got to figure that out, that is something we will practice on."

Lee had just one inning when runners weren't left on base, that being in the seventh when a one-out walk was erased by a double play to end the game.

"It was kind of nerve-racking toward the end, but we came through and we played good defense and we won," Fullen said. "It makes us feel really good. We have had a couple of struggles recently, but that really puts us back.

"Everybody is good in this district. We had two tough losses, but everybody is good so any win is a good win."

Perhaps the only people more excited then Fullen after her big hit were her teammates.

"That is the best part is that no matter what or who gets the hit we are all excited for each other," she said.

Lee High 020 100 0 - 3 8 1

Abingdon 010 300 x - 4 7 1

Bledsoe and Fortner. M.Branscomb and Dillow. W-M.Branscomb; L-Bledsoe. HR-none.