Kings Mountain’s softball team will get a shot at the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A state championship after beating Piedmont in Game 3 of the western regional championship series on Saturday night.

Pitcher Madeline Huffman recorded a shutout with nine strikeouts, all while allowing just five hits. Kings Mountain defeated Piedmont 2-0 to win the series.

The Mountaineers scored first in the bottom of the first inning. Kali Weaver hit a triple to right field to get in scoring position, then Kayla McSwain hit a single to bring Weaver home.

Kings Mountain led 1-0 after one inning. The next run didn’t come until the bottom of the fifth though.

Similar to the first inning, Weaver hit a double to left field, then McSwain hit a double on a line drive to center allowing Weaver to score. That run put Kings Mountain up 2-0.

In the final two innings, Piedmont only managed one hit. The Panthers went down in order in the seventh inning, ending the game with a strikeout and two fly outs.

Weaver had both runs for Kings Mountain, and McSwain recorded a RBI on each. McSwain had a hit on all three at bats on Saturday. The Mountaineers finished the game with nine hits.

Jailyn Thomas pitched all six innings for Piedmont, allowing nine hits with two runs while throwing nine strikeouts. Sarah Belk led Piedmont with two hits on her four at bats.

The Mountaineers’ series win over Piedmont was the result of back-to-back wins for Kings Mountain. Piedmont won Game 1 of the series 3-1, but Kings Mountain picked up a 3-2 win in Game 2, leading to the decisive Game 3 on Saturday evening.

Kings Mountain will face South Brunswick in the 3A state championship series next weekend at either Duke or UNC-Greensboro. The championship is a best-of-three series with the first game played on Friday and the other two games on Saturday.

South Brunswick swept South Central in the eastern regional championship series by scores of 11-0 and 14-3.

Source: highschoolot.com