Union County turned a defensive battle into a hitting clinic in the bottom of the seventh inning en-route to a 5-2 win over Seneca in the first round of 3A upperstate playoffs on Monday night.
After four innings of scoreless softball, Cece Moorman jacked a 2-run homer over the right field fence to give Union County a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Seneca evened things up with two runs on two hits and a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning but the Lady Jackets broke it open in the top of the seventh. Payton Martin led off the inning with her second hit of the game, singling into left field. Abby Allen followed with an RBI double and then scored on a double by Moorman. MaKayla Plemmons drove in Moorman with a hit to deep center field and Union County carried a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Seneca was looking to make some noise of its own and had runners on second and third bases when Allen made an impressive play from shortstop for the first out of the inning. Martin, who pitched a complete seven inning game, took care of the last two batters with back-to-back strikeouts.
With the win, Union County receives a home game for the second round of the double elimination tournament that is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m.















