Carolina Roadrunner softball coach Michael Beasley isn't much of a fan for moral victories. Beasley stances is simple "Either you win or you lose."

However, Beasley's views changed a little after his team's first round bout Saturday with the Carolina Hurricanes in the ISA tournament in Lexington.

The Roadrunners trailed the Hurricanes by three runs going into its last at-bat.

Down, but not out, the Roadrunners rallied its bats with the game on the line, scoring three runs to tie the game at 3-3. Due to the 1 hour and 15 minute tournament time limit per game, the contest finished with a 3-3 tie.

"I guess this is as close as you can get to a win," Beasley said. "The way we finished the game was a like a victory to our girls' confidence level. The girls really played well. We gave up a few runs early in the game. After that we pretty much held our own. We played really good defense for the majority of the game and our pitching was solid."

Fueling the comeback for the Carolina Roadrunners were Annabelle Cooper and Jennifer Croft of Williston-Elko High.

The Lady Blue Devils duo each belted doubles as the Roadrunners plated three runs to tie the contest.

Players scoring runs during the inning included Cooper along with Brittany Padgett and Cierra Bell of Barnwell High. With two outs in the inning, the Roadrunners almost pulled off the victory when Croft attempted to steal home. On the play, Croft was tagged out at home plate to end the contest.

Hillary Zorn of Barnwell High was the top pitcher for the Roadrunners. Zorn tossed a four-hitter with four strikeouts through five innings of work.

Defensively several players were credited with good performances. They included Bell, Croft, Katelyn Delk of Williston-Elko High, Brittany Padgett of Barnwell High and Kelcee Shore of Blackville-Hilda.

In the Roadrunners third round outing against Max Pride of McBee, the team tried to use the same strategy as they did in the opening round game.

However, this time, the Roadrunners fell short on its comeback attempt, losing by a score of 5-3.

The Roadrunners trailed 5-0 going into the last inning of play. The team then rallied back behind RBI singles from Croft, Bell and Taylor Priester of Barnwell High. For the Roadrunners, Katelyn Delk of Williston-Elko High, Kelcee Shore of Blackville-Hilda High and Catherine Padgett of Barnwell High scored to cut the lead at 5-3. After narrowing the lead to two runs, the Roadrunners had the bases loaded with one out.

The team, however, squandered a late scoring opportunity with its last two batters grounding out to end the game.

"This was a game we felt we should have won," Roadrunners coach Bill Dixon said. "We did a good job of fighting back and giving ourselves a chance to win. In the last inning, we needed that one more big hit. However, we just weren't able to get it done."

The Carolina Roadrunners consists of players from Barnwell High, Blackville-Hilda High, Jefferson Davis Academy and Williston-Elko High. The coaches are Michael Beasley of Blackville-Hilda High School. Coaches Bill Dixon and Mark Still are residents of Barnwell.