April 18, 2012 —
The East Carter Lady Raiders softball team may be young, but they know how to win.
After giving up two early Rowan County runs, the Lady Raiders once again turned to its strength at bat, defeating Rowan County 8-3 in Grayson on Monday night.
East Carter Head Coach Derek Calhoun said he was happy with the way his girls responded after the slow start.
“We came out in the first few innings a little rusty, and that was to be expected after our short break,” Calhoun said. “As the game went on I could tell we were starting to get our swing back, and we began to pick it up defensively.”
With two outs in the top of the first inning, Rowan County quickly put together some runs when Tessa Jennings and Morgan Mitchell picked up two doubles.
Jennings double drove home Alli Banks for the RBI, while Mitchell’s follow-up hit sent Jennings in for the score, giving Rowan County a 2-0 lead headed into the second frame of the first.
A change in the tide saw Calhoun’s girls pick it up offensively in the third inning, where it racked up three runs.
Things kicked into full swing when East Carter’s Jordyn Wiler brought home two teammates for two RBIs, followed by a single RBI to bring home Heather Withrow to give East a 3-2 lead.
After a scoreless fourth, Rowan County’s Mackenzie Summers notched a double to deep center field, bring home a teammate to tie the game at three runs.
Strong batting by the Lady Raiders picked apart the Lady Vikings defense, finding defensive gaps for big doubles, including one by slugger Tori Qualls to give East a 5-3 advantage headed into the sixth.
A solid performance by pitcher Morgan Jacobs and her fielding crew helped to hold Rowan at three runs for the remainder of the game.
Calhoun said it was nice to see his girls making big plays with glove in hand.
“Rowan was definitely hitting the ball tonight,” Calhoun said. “Our girls just made some nice plays, and that played a big part in why we were able to come away with the win.”
Unable to bag big hits late in the game, the Lady Vikings would give up three more runs to the Lady Raiders.
Leading 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Wiler continued to lay the wood for East when she brought home Pennington and Whitney Hall on a double RBI, followed up with another RBI from Qualls to bring in Heather Withrow.
Minus a ground double, runs did not materialize in the final inning for Rowan County, as a pop up to the outfield was caught by the Lady Raiders to end the game with another victory.
“We’re playing pretty well right now,” Calhoun said. “The girls are excited, I’m very pleased, and so is the rest of the coaching staff. We feel confident headed into a tough part of our schedule next week.”
Following the win over Rowan County, the Lady Raiders rocked out two more wins over the remainder of the week, while dropping two.
East’s girls headed to West Liberty after press time for a matchup with the Lady Cougars.
Make sure to pick up next Wednesday’s edition of the Journal-Times to see if the Lady Raiders can continue its quick start.
Grant Stevens can be reached at gstevens@journal-times.com or by telephone at 1-800-247-6142.
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Related Photos
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East Carter senior Tiffany McGuire picks up a hit during last Tuesday’s home win over Rowan County. Photo by Grant Stevens
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