Midway back in State Finals

The Midway softball team has punched their ticket back to the NCHSAA 2A State Softball Championship series next week, completing the sweep of Martin County on Thursday by a score of 7-3. The Lady Raiders will face the winner of North Stanly and Southwest Randolph at either Duke University or UNC-Greensboro.

Martin County opted to give their secondary pitcher, Erica Sturgill, a run in the circle on Thursday night, giving Midway someone new to try to figure out. Things initially looked great for the Lady Knights as two fly-outs had the Lady Raiders facing two outs with one runner on base. That was about to change, though, as Eva McLamb was hit by a pitch, putting herself at first and Kiley Ives at second. McKenzie Williams drove a line drive into center field to score Ives and a passed ball later scored McLamb, putting Midway ahead 2-0.

In the bottom of the inning, starting pitcher Jordan Christopher quickly induced two outs against Martin County before Peyton Lane got her third hit of the series on a single into left field. She was stranded at first, though, as Christopher finished the side on a strikeout.

Midway went down in three-up, three-down fashion in the second inning and the bats quickly went back into the hands of the Lady Knights. Here, Martin County finally got a little magic going as they got their first run of the series. A walk and a single put Sturgill and Gabby Bennett onboard but the Lady Raiders retired the next two batters. The Lady Knights rolled the dice a little on a steal attempt at third. The throw down went errant, allowing the runner to score to make it 2-1. Christoper closed the inning with another strikeout but Martin County was in business.

The Lady Raiders, though, went right back to work in the top of the third. Tamia Gwynn led off with an infield single on a bunt and Ives reached on an error that allowed Gwynn to take third. After a wild pitch, Gwynn came in and got the run back to make it 3-1. Stonerock drew a walk to put runners at first and second, still with no outs, and McLamb singled on a line drive into center to score Ives, making it 4-1. An untimely double-play took a runner off third base and Martin County later got out of the jam.

Outside of Lane’s consistent hitting in the bottom of the third, Midway got through the inning unscathed and led 4-1 in the top of the fourth. That inning passed with both teams each stranding a runner and the action quickly moved into the fifth, the Lady Raiders inching ever so closer to the victory.

Stonerock led the fifth off with a walk and was moved over to third on back-to-back sacrifices by McLamb and McKenzie Williams. Mollie Honeycutt got a single into center field, scoring Stonerock to make it 5-1.

After a pitching change in the top of the fifth, the Lady Knights regrouped and showed some signs of life as they made a run back into the game. A walk and a hit-by-pitch put Riley Cowan and Ty’Hiera Wooten aboard before Whitney Stevens got an infield ground out for the first out of the inning. Right on cue, Lane drove another hit into left field that scored both runners, cutting the Midway lead down to 5-3. A walk put another runner aboard before the Lady Raiders made another pitching change, putting the mighty arm of Sarah Autry back in the circle. She gave up a hit to Sturgill, who placed a single into right field where Sam Carter stood, who threw a bolt toward home plate to tag out Aniya Williams as she was trying to cut the lead down even more. A strikeout ended the inning, squandering opportunities for the Lady Knights.

Midway gradually got those two runs back, starting with one in the top of the sixth. Ella Clark and Gwynn each had base hits to start the inning and Stonerock hit into an unsuccessful fielder’s choice to load the bases. McLamb hit into another fielder’s choice that again went unsuccessful on the throw home and Clark was safe to make it 6-3.

A double play, though, ended the top of the sixth. Midway’s defense stood tall and played a spectacular bottom inning. They forced a three up, three down in the bottom of the inning and shut things down quickly, moving things right into the final inning.

An error allowed Honeycutt to lead the inning off by reaching second and she was moved over to third on a sacrifice by Christopher. Two batters later she was scored on a hit by Clark into center, making it 7-3 Midway. The Lady Raiders later moved runners over to second and third, but Martin County got out of the jam, now trailing 7-3 and down to their final three outs.

There would be no last-minute magic to save the day this time for the Lady Knights as the Lady Raiders were having none of it. Midway again shut things in down three up, three down fashion to seal the win and punch their ticket back to the state finals.

It was another terrific night hitting the ball for the Lady Raiders, who posted eight hits in Thursday’s win. Gwynn had three hits and Clark had two hits to go along with an RBI. McLamb, Honeycutt, and Williams all had one hit apiece.

Midway will take a 21-3 overall record to next weekend’s State Championship series against the winner of North Stanly and Southwest Randolph. It took all three games to decide the winner of that series as North Stanly won 1-0 in eight innings in Game 1 and Southwest Randolph took the second game 2-1 in 13 innings. Game three was set for Friday night.

The best-of-three State Championship series is set to begin Friday evening and conclude on Saturday.