It’s exciting times in Spivey’s Corner as Midway, for the second consecutive year, will be vying for a spot in the NCHSAA 2A State Softball Championship. The Lady Raiders have had an impressive run in the postseason and have put themselves in position to once again be the hosts in a best-of-three series against the Martin County softball team. Let’s take a look at what the Lady Knights have to offer for this upcoming series.
To get things started, it should be established that Martin County is unique in that the team isn’t represented by a singular school. Martin County Schools recently consolidated the athletic programs of both of their high schools — Riverside and South Creek. Therefore, Midway will be squaring off against athletes from two separate schools that merged their athletics into one.
It paid off for them as the Lady Knights boast a 25-2 overall record and went 9-1 in their 1A/2A split conference. That aside, Martin County has had to overcome their share of adversity in the postseason. Their first round game against Manteo was never in doubt as the Lady Knights quickly dispatched the Lady Redskins 12-1. Things were a little more dicey in the second and third rounds where Martin County held on in narrow 1-run victories. Round two saw the Lady Knights rally from a 1-0 deficit in the third inning and hang on for a 2-1 victory over Bartlett-Yancey. The third round was another 2-1 victory, this one coming against Washington.
It was a much different game in round four against No. 1 seed Camden County. In that game, the Lady Knights gradually fell behind 3-0 through the first five innings. With the game in the top of the seventh, Martin County was facing a 2-out situation down 3-0. Out of nowhere, the Lady Knights mounted a furious rally and got back to within 3-2 with two outs and bases loaded. Martin County junior Erica Sturgill sent a grand slam bomb out of the park that put the Lady Knights up 6-3 which is how the game eventually ended to set up their date with Midway.
The Lady Knights will utilize one primary pitcher in Peyton Lane who has pitched 130 of 149 innings this season. She’s compiled 250 strikeouts this season, which presents an impressive ratio against just 47 hits and 37 walks. Lane also leads the team with 46 hits and eight home runs. Other hitting leaders for Martin County include Tyhiera Wooten with 42 hits, Izzy Williams with 30 hits, Sturgill and Gabby Bennett each with 29, Whitney Stevens with 26, and Riley Cowan with 22.
For Midway, the Lady Raiders have three pitchers in their arsenal - two of which got them to the State Championship series last year. It’s very likely the Lady Knights will see all three as Midway head coach Susan Clark respects their big bats and will look to keep them off balance.
“Defensively, they are a very good team. They have great pitching and offensively, they have hit several home runs this season,” Clark acknowledged.
This series undoubtedly features two spectacular teams that are capable of turning their offenses on at any given time. Throughout this postseason, it’s been Midway’s defense that stood the test and paved the way for their offense to do work. One example is the South Lenoir game back in the third round. The Lady Raiders cashed in on a strong defensive effort to string together a 4-run effort to move past the Lady Devils. Then in the fourth round, Midway had consecutive big innings at the start of the contest to quickly put Jordan-Matthews in the rearview mirror, though the Lady Jets did make things interesting on a couple of occasions.
Defense will be crucial again this series as the pitchers look to shut down the other team’s bats. Game one of the series is Tuesday night at Midway at 6:30. Game two will be at Martin County on Thursday at 6 p.m. and if necessary game three will be back at Midway on Friday.
Local News
Comments / 0