For seniors Haley Parks and Michelle Walden, Friday’s contest against Grace Christian would be their last regular season game on their home field. The playing area was proudly decorated in several locations with each girl’s jersey number, and the coaches organized a nice pre-game ceremony for Parks, Walden and their respective parents. Both of these girls have meant a lot to Midway softball, going all the way back to their youth league days. When this season’s over, they will be sorely missed on the playing field. For a deeper story on Haley and Michelle, check out this year’s SORSN Senior Softball Interview and the SORSN 2010 Softball Preview.
Midway’s opponent in Friday’s district game was the Grace Christian Lady Rams. Grace has only had a fast pitch team for a few seasons now, but they are rapidly improving. These two teams had played seven games before Friday, and the Lady Waves had won all of them with a run total of 170-6. This season, however, Grace has claimed a district win over Harriman and has been competitive against other district teams. One of the main factors in this improvement turned out to be the Lady Rams’ pitcher. Reportedly, she is an eight grader, and on Friday, she was throwing the ball hard.
The two seniors started at their usual positions on Friday, with Walden pitching and Parks in left field. The first hit for either team in this game was a single by Grace in the top of the second inning. The Lady Waves quickly nullified that hit when they turned a double play involving short stop Hayley Patterson, second baseman Taylor Narramore and first baseman Alex Richardson. The Lady Waves got their bats going in the bottom of the inning. The SOR girls almost batted around, scoring five runs. The inning was highlighted with doubles by Patterson and right fielder Paige Moree.
The Lady Waves tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the third inning, then two more in the bottom of the fourth. In the top of the fourth inning, the Midway defense made two nice plays. Parks tracked down a hard line drive to left center field and made an acrobatic catch for one out. Third baseman Hali Morris also showed off her glove, snagging a bullet and tagging the runner who was coming back to third base. The runner was called safe, but it was very close to being a double play. Walden and Parks both singled in the fourth, with Parks knocking in Walden’s courtesy runner, freshman Kayla Hamilton. Later in the inning, Alisa Barger entered the lineup for Narramore and reached base on a Grace error that scored Parks.
In the top of the fifth, six substitutes took the field for the Lady Waves, with Parks, Walden and catcher Winky Stansbury being the only remaining starters. If the Lady Waves could hold Grace scoreless, the game would be called according to the run rule. New third baseman Shade Narramore fielded a ground ball and threw to first baseman Taylr Hall for the first out. Fittingly, the last two outs came from the seniors. Parks caught a high fly ball for out number two, and Walden threw a called strike three to end the game. Final: Lady Waves 10, Grace 0.
It was a quick victory at just over an hour long, but a pleasant Senior Day win for Parks and Walden. Top hitters for Midway included Taylor Narramore (2-2, RBI), Hayley Patterson (1-2, 2 RBI), Haley Parks (1-2 RBI) and Paige Moree (1-2, RBI).
After the game, members of the Lady Waves congregated at the Wave’s Caf