Softball: East Surry, West Stokes, North Stokes win

PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry used opportunistic base-running and stout defense to overcome a sluggish night at the plate Friday in the opening round of the 1A softball playoffs.

Evelyn Wells doubled, walked, stole three bases and scored two runs to help the Cardinals get past Alleghany 4-0. Jessica Barker hit an RBI double and picked up the pitching victory. Laiken Bowman singled to bring home a run.

East Surry improved to 16-7 overall and will travel to West Wilkes for a second-round game on Tuesday.

“Offensively, we scuffled. We hadn’t played in about a week and a half so maybe we were a little rusty,” Cardinals coach Derrick Hill said. “But like I told them, when you get into the playoffs, if you win then you win — you don’t care what the score is. You just move on and go to the next game.”

Alleghany finished third on the 1A side of the Mountain Valley this spring, behind West Wilkes and East Wilkes. Trojan pitcher Madison Gentry kept East Surry off-balance much of Friday’s game. The Cardinals went down 1-2-3 in their first at-bat. The first two hitters of the second inning struck out.

Kristen Cummings drew a walk and came home on Bowman’s two-out single to center.

East Surry pushed to lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the third. Wells walked with one out. She stole second, then third and then came home after an Alleghany throwing error.

Wells led off the sixth frame and dropped a hit perfectly into a hole in shallow centerfield. Alertly, she made it two bases when Alleghany fielders struggled to come up with the ball right away. With Brooke Bowman at the plate, Wells stole third base. She then came home to make it 3-0 on a passed ball.

Alleghany committed an error trying to throw out Amber Lawson on a fielder’s choice. Lawson got to second on a passed ball, then stole third. She trotted home easily after Barker’s double into centerfield.

“I don’t think it was our best game,” Hills said. “But we took advantage of some of the mistakes that they made. Jessica pitched well. They hit some balls hard but when they did, we made the plays for the most part.”

East Surry dodge a few bullets to preserve the shutout. The Trojans put two runners in scoring position in the second inning with one out after a Mika Sprinkle standup double. Barker then hit Kayla Wiles to load the bases with two outs, but she recovered by striking out the next batter to end the inning.

Alleghany got two runners on in the top of the sixth. Casey Hamm hit a first-pitch single to lead off. Faith Reeves followed with a one-out single to center. Barker worked out of the trouble, getting the next batters to hit into fly-ball outs.

Barker and the Cardinals retired Alleghany 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh.

East Surry 4, Alleghany 0
1A Softball Playoffs * Friday * at Pilot Mountain

Alleghany 000 000 0 — 0
East Surry 011 002 x — 4

WP: Jessica Barker
LP: Madison Gentry

More Softball

WEST STOKES 4, MAIDEN 1: Emily Worley doubled and drove home a run for the Wildcats. Lacey Grubbs and Sarah James also batted in scores, helping West Stokes advance to the second round of the 2A state tournament.

West Stokes will host Starmount – the top 2A seed from the Mountain Valley – on Tuesday. Starmount was a 25-0 win over Carver in its playoff opener Friday.

Lindsey Schronce hit a solo home run for Maiden in the third inning. But that shot was one of only two hits the Blue Devils recorded on the day against West Stokes pitcher Lauryn Smith.

RANDLEMAN 6, SURRY CENTRAL 5: The Golden Eagles roared back from a 5-1 deficit and scored the tying run in the top of the seventh inning. Karie McLamb hit a double, then raced home after an Ivey Johnson base hit for a 5-5 game.

But Randleman ended the game, and the Eagles’ season, with a run-scoring, walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh. Surry Central’s final record is 13-12. Elise Austin and Karmen Gardner both had RBIs for Central.

NORTH STOKES 15, NORTH WILKES 0 (4): Sabrina Dodson and Lindsay Brown each hit home runs for North Stokes. Brandi Hole, Kierston Garner and Rebecca McBride each recorded doubles. North Stokes banged out 15 hits in all. The game ended after four innings due to the super mercy rule.

Hole, the winning pitcher, threw a no-hitter over four innings. Dodson finished with three RBIs, while Hole and Brown added two RBIs apiece.

North Stokes improved to 19-3.

North Stokes 15, North Wilkes 0
1A State Playoffs * Round 1 * Friday * at Danbury

North Wilkes 000 0 — 0 0 3
North Stokes 361 5 — 15 15 0

North Wilkes 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
North Stokes 3 6 1 5 15 15 0 4innings
WP- Brandi Hole- Rebecca McBride
LP- Madison Ashley(8-17)- Brooklyn Osborne