State softball updates

The amazing run of the Hickory Hawks comntinued Friday night in its state semifinal against Deep Run. Once again, the star of the game was Hickory pitching sensation Jennifer Gniadek. Gniadek pitched a complete game no-hitter for a second straight playoff game, she struck out eight and only walked two.
The Hawks offense came out of hibernation in the top of the eighth inning in a scoreless game as Gniadek and Jaclyn Quinn scored when Emily Ambrous delivered a bunt to the Deep Run shortstop who threw the ball wide of the plate accounting for the only runs needed as Hickory had a 2-0 lead.
Hickory added four more runs as they posted a 6-0 semifinal win to move on to its first state softball title game in school history.
In the earlier semifinal, Woodside scored first against Battlefield as Matricka Hale scored off a pair of errors in the first to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. But the lead would be short-lived as Battlefield scored four runs in the second and two more in the fourth to pull away with an 11-1 win to end Woodside's season at 21-4.
Hickory will face Battlefield in Saturday's 4pm championship game at Westfield.
In Group A semifinal play, Mathews fell behind early to Glenvar and could not recover as the Blue Devils fell 8-3. The Highlanders jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and never looked back. Mathews did cut into Glenvar's lead with a pair of runs in the second and one more in the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-3. But the Highlanders added two insurance runs in the seventh to complete the scoring.
Mathews' season ends at 21-5.