Lady Raiders back in East Regional Finals

The Midway Lady Raiders continue their remarkable postseason run, reaching the NCHSAA 2A East Regional Championship for the second year in a row. Hosting No. 7 seed Jordan-Matthews on Friday night, Midway jumped all over the Lady Jets in the early going of the fourth round game and staved off a late comeback effort to grab an 8-3 win.

The Lady Raiders couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game. Leadoff Lady Jets batter Logan Gunter smacked a line-drive into right field, seemingly starting the game off with a base hit. Right fielder Samantha Carter, though, spoiled that bid as she made a great diving catch for the first out of the game. From there, Midway sit the rest of the batting order down in one, two, three fashion to earn their first trip to the plate.

With the bats in their hands for the first time in the game, the Lady Raiders went right to work. Kiley Ives and Kyleigh Stonerock each drew 1-out walks and Eva McLamb smacked a single into left field to score Ives, putting Midway up 1-0. McKenzie Williams followed suit with another single into left field, scoring Stonerock and McLamb, pushing the lead to 3-0. In the fray, Williams moved all the way over to third and was scored on a line-drive into center by Mollie Honeycutt.

Jordan-Matthews finally got out of the calamity but was left reeling after quickly falling behind 4-0. With the bats now back in their hands, the Lady Jets continued to struggle. The Lady Raiders defense served up another three up, three down effort and quickly got back onto offense.

Again, Midway’s bats went right back to work. Peyton Herring led the inning off with a single into left field and was moved over on a bunt by Sarah Autry. Tamia Gwynn laid down what should have been a sacrifice but an error was produced and Herring came home. Autry moved over to third and Gwynn reached second, keeping the Lady Raiders in scoring position. Ives stepped up to the plate for her second at-bat and sent a single into left field, a popular location for the Midway batters on Friday night. This advanced all runners and scored Autry to put the score at 6-0. Jordan-Matthews got back-to-back outs but the Lady Raiders weren’t done. Williams belted a triple into left field, scoring two more runs to make it 8-0. Again, the Lady Jets got out of the mess but had now fallen way behind.

With the wind completely gone from their sails, Jordan-Matthews appeared completely deflated. They went three up, three down yet again in the top of the third and appeared to be on their way to being ran off the field. Instead, the Lady Jets dug their heels in and came up with a big defensive stop in the bottom of the third, serving up their own helping of a three up, three down effort.

Then in the top of the fourth, the bats came alive. Back at the top of the lineup, Gunter connected on a double into left and Marcy Clark moved her over on a single also into left field. Sophia Murchison got Jordan-Matthews’ third consecutive hit on a single into center field to score Gunter and make it 8-1. A fourth-straight hit from Lilliana Hicks made it 8-2 and the Lady Jets looked to be warming up. Midway, though, quickly ended this threat, getting a quick three outs to end the top of the inning and strand a pair of baserunners.

After the second inning, Midway’s offense was pitched a shutout. Though they occasionally got runners aboard, Jordan-Matthews pitcher Lilliana Hicks found her groove and held the Lady Raiders at bay, giving the Lady Jets a chance. They took advantage again in the top of the fifth, earning another run back on a hit by Murchison that scored Lisa Carter to make it 8-3.

From there, the game turned into a tug of war of momentum as tension soared. Jordan-Matthews was one big hit away from changing the tune of the ballgame but each time Midway answered the call and held the Lady Jets at bay and secured the 8-3 victory.

Williams had a huge night at the plate for the Lady Raiders, showing senior leadership in getting four RBIs on two hits. Ives also had two hits and secured one RBI. McLamb, Gwynn, and Honeycutt all had one hit apiece.

Midway, now 19-3 overall, will face No. 4 seed Martin County in the best-of-three East Regional Championship series. The Lady Knights miraculously found some late-game magic on Friday night as they rallied and took down No. 1 seed Camden County. The first game of the series is set for Tuesday night at Midway.