The Northern Nash softball team, so good for so long this season and so solid in the field on the way to so many wins during recent months, started to fall apart on Friday afternoon in the third inning. An error here, an unearned run allowed there, a lead snapped away in the errant flash of a glove. The problems dragged on to the fifth inning, then the seventh.

In the end, the Knights stuffed their bags with bats and balls and those errant gloves, and walked off the field. They committed five errors in a hurry, struggled to hit and run late, allowed the Erwin Triton Hawks to score six runs, all unearned, and watched what one player referred to recently as a "dream season" end with a 6-1 home loss in the NCHSAA 3-A sectional championship game.

The loss handed the Knights (21-5) a handful of questions after a regular season and a three-week run through the NEW 6 Conference Tournament and the state playoffs that had previously been filled with so many answers. Like how does a team that had not lost at home in more than a year fall on its field with so much up in the air? And how is a team that averaged only 1.6 errors per game during the regular season shuffle through five errors in a playoffs game? And, perhaps the simplest question of all, what happened?

"I wish I knew," coach Greg Tharrington said. "I wish I knew. ... I thought we were really ready to play. I thought we knew what was on the line."

All season, the Knights had circled the regional and state championship series, an annual tradition at Walnut Creek Softball Complex in Raleigh, on their schedule. The series will start Friday, but the Knights will remain in the Twin Counties.

They appeared to be on their way to both another win and their first road trip during these state playoffs after the first inning against the Hawks (22-5). Starting pitcher Melissa Avent singled to left field with one out, then advanced to third base after a steal and a wild pitch, and scored thanks to a single up the middle by catcher Melissa Williams. Just like that, the Knights had a 1-0 lead. And with Avent in the pitcher\'s circle, one run might have been enough to pick up the win.

But Triton cobbled together back-to-back singles in the top of the third and scored a run to tie the game thanks to two Northern Nash errors. The Hawks scored another run in the top of the fifth, again after a single and two Knights errors, to grab a 2-1 lead.

Third baseman Lindsay Bailey doubled to lead off the bottom of the sixth, then advanced to third base on a ground out. With shortstop Raven Lee in the batter\'s box, Bailey 60 feet away and only one out, the Knights seemed to be on the brink of another rally. But Lee dropped a sharp grounder that rolled only about 30 feet in front of home plate, the only spot on the infield that would not have allowed Bailey to score without a problem. Triton pitcher Candice Faircloth grabbed the ball and stared down Bailey, who strayed too far. Without any other choice, Bailey ran toward home and almost avoided the tag.

But she was out.

"You can change this, change that, but if we score and tie it up with the the runner at third, it\'s probably a different ball game," Tharrington said. "That one hurt. It\'s hard to look at the positives right now, because this hurts."

The Hawks scored four in the top of the seventh in the midst of five singles and another error. That sealed the game.

Afterward, Lee dragged the bases off the field and second baseman Brianne McKenney loaded up a basket of practice balls and first baseman Samantha Gurganus wheeled the pitching machine into a shed for the summer. The players huddled in a circle in right field and cried for five minutes. Tharrington talked with them and encouraged them to be proud of their accomplishments. Athletics director Dan Richwalski walked over and shared with the Knights his own stories of heartbreak in the state playoffs.

"Be proud of yourselves," Richwalski said. "You experienced something that not many people are able to experience."

Matt LaWell can be reached at 407-9952 or mlawell@coxnc.com

Erwin Triton 6

Northern Nash 1

ET 001 010 4 – 6 9 0

NN 100 000 0 – 1 5 5

WP: Candice Faircloth (22-5, 7IP, 1R, 1ER, 5H, 1BB, 6K); LP: Melissa Avent (8-3, 5IP, 2R, 0ER, 4H, 0BB, 7K).

2B: Lindsay Bailey (NN).