Sumter High's Ivey dominant in circle on way to Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week

The Sumter High softball team came into the SCHSL 5A-DI postseason as the second-lowest seed but earned a trip to the District 4 championship on Friday. At the center of their spectacular run is their junior pitcher, Lillie Ivey.

In her first five starts of the postseason, Ivey allowed just two earned runs despite battling illness in her first two performances. In Wednesday's district semifinal, she added a career milestone, striking out the 500th batter of her career in a 9-1 victory. Her performance helped her earn the recognition of being the Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week.

"It's extremely uplifting knowing that they care," Ivey said of the support she and her teammates have received this postseason despite playing every game on the road. "It gives us a reason to keep going."

Ivey and the Lady Gamecocks have traveled a long road through the playoffs. Literally. They've made two trips to Wando, two trips to Cane Bay and a much more reasonable ride to River Bluff on top of Friday's bus ride to Lexington. Ivey has battled health issues throughout the year, including the first two games of this postseason, but she refused to let anything get in between her and the next game.

"Give it all you've got because if you don't, we're done," Ivey said of her mindset.

Sumter High assistant coach Courtney Moss works directly with Ivey in the circle and has been extremely impressed by the way the junior has carried herself throughout this postseason. Ivey has been Sumter High's ace since she was a middle-schooler, and that experience is paying off as the Lady Gamecocks fight tooth and nail to keep their season alive.

"Lillie having the playoff experience that she's had since she was 13 definitely helps in the circle," Moss said. "She's battled illness since January off and on, but she hasn't let it stop her. As soon as she gets back to 100%, she locks right back in and she's ready to take everything on. Even if she's not 100%, she's going to give it all she can because she wants to do what's best for the team."

The playoffs started with a trip to Wando, where Ivey pitched a complete game without allowing an earned run. Two unearned runs crossed due to three Sumter High errors in a 3-2 win, but she gave up just four hits and a walk as she earned the victory. After that, SHS made the trip to Cane Bay. Still feeling under the weather, Ivey scattered seven hits and two walks as Sumter High suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 loss despite outhitting Cane Bay 11-7. Only two of the runs were earned against the SHS ace. As Ivey tried to grind her way through those two games despite feeling unwell, she didn't need to look far for inspiration.

"My best friend, McKayla (Mouradjian), the lone senior, just the thought of our last game together being soon, I mean, I don't want that to even cross my mind," Ivey said. "So, that kinda pushed me to give it all I've got and do as much as I can to keep the season alive."

The most intense matchup of the postseason came in their trip to River Bluff, as the Lady Gamecocks pulled out a 1-0 win on a night when both starting pitchers were dealing. Ivey gave up just two hits and a walk while striking out 13. As she kept leaving zeros on the scoreboard, the SHS bats tried to find an answer. Eventually, McKenzi Pearson hit an RBI single in the top of the seventh for the game's only run before Ivey sent River Bluff down in order to finish off the win.

"Each batter, I'm just looking at Kenzi for that number and just thinking, 'Hit your spot, hit your spot,'" Ivey said. "I trust Coach Courtney completely. She knows what pitch they're not going to hit or what pitch is going to make them pop it up, so I'm just looking for that number, and I'm just dialed in. Don't look at the fans, don't look at the people, just get it going."

That win was an important confidence booster for the Lady Gamecocks after a tough loss to Cane Bay earlier in the week. It helped SHS go into this week with less pressure on the offense, because they know that, more often than not, one run is going to be enough to win.

"It was a huge confidence booster because the other seven behind her know that Lillie is going to go up there and give us the best chance we can to win," Moss said, "and all we need in return is a little bit of offense and she'll keep dealing for us."

In two games to open this week, Sumter High had rematches of their first two playoff matchups. The first was a revenge trip to Cane Bay, where Ivey tossed another gem. She allowed just three hits and two walks in a 4-0 victory, getting a little bit of revenge for the previous week's loss. On Wednesday, they made another trip to Wando, and Ivey carried a no-hitter into the sixth. She eventually allowed one run on three hits and a walk, striking out six batters.

The key to success in both rematches was a shift in pitching strategy. In the first road trips, Ivey largely focused on the outside part of the plate. In the rematches, she pitched inside and got easy outs with soft contact.

"Both games I threw outside the first week. They were definitely able to see it and they were ready for it, so coming back, they weren't ready for the inside pitch at all," Ivey said. "They'd foul off a couple or they'd hit it and pop it up. If they came up to two strikes, then I'd hit them with the outside pitch, so it was a whole different strategy, so completely opposite."

She still managed six strikeouts despite pitching for contact, which helped Ivey reach 500 for her career. She entered the game needing just four punchouts to hit the milestone. Ivey didn't know quite how close she was to the nice round number, so when Moss ran out to the mound after striking out the final batter in the third inning, she was pretty confused.

"When everybody started screaming, I was like, 'What is going on?' Coach Courtney came running out to hug me, and I was like, 'What just happened? It's just the third inning, we haven't won yet,'" Ivey said. "It was really nice because I've been sick a lot this year, so it hasn't been my best year, so coming off the sickness and pulling off all this through the playoffs and going almost as far - maybe as far - as we did last year is amazing."

Ivey is just proud of the way the Lady Gamecocks have come together during the last month as they bounced back from a 1-8 stretch that had them battling for a playoff spot to earn a chance to play for a district title.

"It's awesome; it's like something just clicked and bang, we're winning, winning, winning," she said. "Good ballgames are happening, and it's awesome."