How Madison softball practiced under pressure, pulls off 2 upsets, goes to NCHSAA 3rd round

BREVARD — By the time junior pitcher Carrie Gunter took the circle in the bottom of the first inning against Brevard on Friday, Madison had already built her a six-run lead.

But the No. 23 seed Patriots (13-7), already the owners of one playoff upset, knew not to turn down the pressure.

Behind Gunter’s strong pitching and an explosion of offense, Madison advanced to the third round of the NCHSAA softball playoffs with a 13-1 six-inning mercy rule victory.

“We have increased our pressure in practice, so we know how to respond to a pressure situation,” coach Rebekah Huff said. “We put our girls through drills designed to make them uncomfortable, so when we get out to a game, it’s just every day for us.”

The Patriots had to respond to that type of pressure in the first round Tuesday against No. 10 West Davidson. Down 3-0 in the top of the seventh inning, Madison scored four runs to pull off their first upset of the postseason.

While Friday’s win came much easier, Huff said Madison used the momentum of that victory on offense.

“Momentum is everything in this game,” she said. “Just a little bit of momentum goes a long way, and we’re seeing that today.”

Huff said her seniors are the heart and soul of the team. Throughout Friday’s win, they were the loudest players in the dugout, helping bring the energy in the win.

“Our energy makes us so special,” Gunter said. “We’re always pumping each other up, we’re always hitting the ball. Even if we get down, we tell each other to pick our heads up.”

Freshman Addie Sams, who leads Madison in batting average, runs, doubles and triples, has brought a tremendous amount to the top of Madison’s order.

Sams homered in the fifth inning to make it a 10-1 lead, her second of the season, just days after doubling home the winning run in the first round.

Because of the way Madison has practiced high-pressure scenarios in practice, Sams said the Patriots aren’t feeling the pressure as much.

“As long as we’re playing as good as we are, we’re always going to be confident,” she said. “Especially after these past two wins, I feel like we’re really confident right now.”

Madison will continue playing on the road for its third-round playoff matchup against the winner between No. 2 North Stanly and No. 15 Bandys, but Huff believes her team is playing at a much higher level than its seed shows.

“We’re peaking right now at the right time,” Huff said. “We’re hitting the crap out of the ball. I couldn’t be any more pleased with my team.”

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Evan Gerike is the high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanGerike. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: How Madison softball practiced under pressure, pulls off 2 upsets, goes to NCHSAA 3rd round