Photo by LARRY HILLIARD Hillary Key joins her teammates in celebrating the district championship with a victory in game two over Byrnes on Thursday. After a frustrating 7-2 loss to Byrnes in the first game on Thursday, Gaffney High softball coach Kelly Ellis had a between-game message for her team: "We aren't going to let Brianna Hamilton beat us."

Message received.

The Lady Indians and pitcher Julie Sarratt held the Byrnes star in check as the Lady Indians captured the District III championship and a berth in the Upperstate playoffs with a 4- 1 victory.

In the first game, Hamilton drove in four runs and set the tone with a 2-run homer in the first inning. She had her chances in game two with baserunners in scoring position, but couldn't deliver.

In the third inning, Sarratt struck out Hamilton with runners on first and second. Fittingly, Hamilton grounded out weakly to end the game with a runner on third base.

"The first game, it just wasn't us," Gaffney coach Kelly Ellis said. "When (Hamilton) hit one out in the first inning, that took something out of us. (Hamilton) is an awesome player, but I told our team that we weren't going to let her beat us in the second game."

With the district title on the line in the second game, Gaffney went on top 1-0 in the third inning on Sarratt's sharp single up the middle that scored Katie Patterson, who was hit by a pitch.

The Lady Rebels tied it in the fifth and could have scored more, but leftfielder Lana Ward made a running catch at the fence for the third out. The defensive gem seemed to inspire the Lady Indians, who scored three runs in the sixth. Megan Sexton singled and scored on Hillary Key's sac fly. Two more runs scored when the Byrnes rightfielder allowed a Jessica Ramsey's liner to go the fence.

Gaffney will host either Lancaster or Hillcrest in the first game of the Upperstate playoffs. If it's Hillcrest, the game will be played today.