By: Shawn Renfro
The Midway Lady Waves came into Wednesday’s round of the district tournament in a tough spot. One loss away from elimination, the SOR girls needed back-to-back wins against Tellico and Grace Christian Academy to keep hopes of a seventh consecutive district championship alive.
After run-ruling Tellico, the Lady Waves were warmed up and clicking on all cylinders. Just one night earlier, the Midway girls had a tough time on defense and the Lady Rams had pulled off a 9-3 win to put the Lady Waves in the losers’ bracket. But on Wednesday, junior Alex Richardson started the Lady Waves off on the right foot in the top of the first when she lit the scoreboard up with a three-run homer! Many of Tuesday’s difficulties were related to Midway errors. And in the bottom of Wednesday’s opening inning, errors were once again a factor in two Grace runners crossing the plate. The Lady Wave defense settled down in the next inning, but a double and a single by GCA helped even the score at three apiece after two frames.
But in the top of the third, the explosive Midway offense we all know and love finally showed up. Six big hits in the inning contributed to nine runs for the Lady Waves! That included doubles by juniors Christina Stansbury, Shade Narramore and Richardson. Richardson hit twice in the frame, along with junior Alisa Barger. But perhaps the most exciting play of the inning was an in-the-park home run by junior speedster Halie Wiley! Grace would not go down easily, however, as they came back with a two-run shot of their own in the bottom of the inning. Still, after three, the Midway girls led, 12-5.
Both teams were scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings, thanks partly to the solid defense of seniors Hali Morris, Hayley Patterson and Taylr Hall. But the two most spectacular web gems of the game came on back-to-back batters in the bottom of the fifth. That’s when senior Danielle Borum made a tough grab in center field to get the first out. Then, as if to top herself, Borum made an almost impossible, diving, truly SportsCenter-worthy grab for the second out!
In the top of the sixth, the Midway bats came alive again. Stansbury reached on a base hit, then Barger laid down a beautiful bunt and reached base! Morris followed by crushing a double, and both Midway runners scored to stretch Midway’s lead to 14-5. GCA still would not yield, though. The Lady Rams put together a string of hits to score four runs in the frame. Lady Wave fans were on pins and needles, as the tally had been narrowed to 14-9 with one inning remaining.
The Lady Waves added no more cushion in the top of the seventh, but were only three outs away from victory. A Grace walk and a Midway error added to the anxiety by putting two runners on with no outs. But right fielder Barger came up big when she caught a pop fly on the next batter and showed some quick thinking when she fired the ball to short stop Patterson to catch the runner at second off the bag for the double play! When the next batter popped up to Patterson, the deal was sealed for the Lady Waves!
With that, the SOR girls have evened things up with Grace. And they’ve set the table for a winner-take-all battle for the District 3A crown on Thursday evening! Game time is 5 pm at Greenback. To all you Lady Waves fans out there, I recommend that you attend if possible. If the game is anything like Wednesday’s, you won’t be disappointed!