In the semi-final Dixie Belles game, Union County was determined not to have a repeat performance against Marlboro County who delivered the Belles their first loss of the tournament on Tuesday.

Coming off the loss, the resilient Union County team was excited and confident. The team took the field after a trademark “Go Hard, Union County!” chant from the huddle.

Strong defense and good play combined with that resilience to put the Union team on top of the competition as the Belles defeated their Marlboro County foes 2-0 to advance to the championship game.

Ashley Vaughan took her place on the pitchers mound, where she went the distance for Union County, allowing seven hits with three strikeouts.

The Belles were once again strong defensively with only a couple of late-game errors.

“The girls were a little anxious, trying to put this one away,” said assistant coach Jerry Foster. “But overall, we played well. We knew what we had to do to advance to the championship and we did it.”

Marlboro County looked to take an early lead in the first inning with two hits and a walk to put runners on, but failed to bring runners across the plate as Andrea Eison ran down the lead-off hitter who was headed for home after a Marlboro County player reached first on a single.

Two outs later, Marlboro County missed its chance and left two runners on base. While they continued to put the ball in play, Marlboro County couldn’t convert and Union County took over.

Still scoreless in the bottom of the third, Katie Melton smacked a single. Tristen Tidey followed up with a single to score Melton and Makayla Plemmons singled with an RBI to give Union County a 2-0 lead.

Ashley Vaughan and Logan Wade helped themselves at the plate contributing a hit each.

“We came back humbled after the loss last night, it’s hard to beat a team twice,” Foster said. “Marlboro County is a tough team, but so are we.”

The Belles proved just how tough they are as they never let up on the Marlboro County club who was shut out by Vaughan and strong defensive plays.

With this win, the Union County Belles advanced to the championship game vs. Lancaster.

“We’re 50 percent of the way there but we realize that we have to go the whole 100 percent,” said Union’s Katie Melton following the Marlboro County game.