Ouch, that hurts

Back in the state playoffs for the first time since 2001, West Iredell's softball team botched its chance to advance on Tuesday.

The Warriors surrendered three unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and lost 5-4 to Eastern Randolph. Needing only one out to get out of the inning unscathed, a throwing error on a routine play cost them dearly.

"People make mistakes," Warriors senior right fielder Tia Edwards said. "It happens."

Committing four errors, there was plenty of blame to go around. That's unfortunate, too, because the miscues overshadowed a strong showing at the plate. Three West Iredell players had at least two hits and an RBI. In fact, the Warriors doubled up Eastern Randolph in the hits department.

And yet somehow it wasn't enough offense to lead West Iredell to its first playoff win since 2000, the year the Warriors reached the quarterfinals.

This one's going to sting for a while.