It’s softball season. For the Midway Lady Wave softball team, “Spring Break” just means they have more time to “Play Ball.” That’s what these girls do best.
On Monday, the Green traveled to Athens to take on McMinn County High School. There was one question on the minds of many of the Midway faithful. “Can these girls really compete with a good 3A school?” The Girls from the South made the answer to that question very clear. If not for a disastrous fifth inning, the Lady Waves would have gotten the victory. With spring break temperatures hovering in the 20’s, freezing fingers and toes just did not respond. The Lady Waves committed no less than four errors and gave up four runs in the bottom of the fifth frame.
In the first two innings of the game, the Lady Waves could muster only one base runner. Haley Parks drew a walk, but was left stranded. Kati “Alexander the Great” ripped a long fly ball, but a great catch by the McMinn County center fielder saved the Athens team. McMinn County would take a 1-0 lead into the top of the third.
The Green would start to get things going in the third when Taylor Narramore, Paige Moree and Parks drew walks. However, the Green Wave threat was soon ended. A pop-up and a strike out hampered the Midway effort. Then, Hannah Colyer delivered a hard shot to center field, but the McMinn center fielder once again made a spectacular defensive play. The Lady Waves came away scoreless.
The Waves again responded in the top of the fourth, with a Michele Walden single to left field and a walk by Parks. Narramore came up to the plate and delivered with a huge two-run double to left field. Midway now held a 2-1 lead.
Then came the fifth inning. Sometimes everything goes against you. This was that time for the Midway Lady Waves. Normally routine defensive plays produced error after error. Four runs later, the Waves trailed 5-2.
Midway would again threaten in the sixth and seventh, putting two runners on base in each inning. The SOR defense, behind Colyer, held the McMinn County girls scoreless for the final two innings. The base runners for Midway, however, just didn’t translate into enough runs. When the game was over, McMinn County got the win, 5-3. Hannah Colyer would record the loss, even though she allowed only three hits and two walks, while throwing for nine strikeouts
vs. Loudon
Tuesday night saw the Green return home for a non-district game against Loudon. The Lady Waves were looking to get back to their winning ways.
The first fifteen batters of this game would go down in order, as the contest would start out as a pitching duel. Then, in the bottom of the third, Paige Moree slapped a base hit to right field. Taylor Narramore then followed with another hit to right field. After the next two batters were put out, Lacey Davidson came up with two out and two on. Davidson hit a rocket at the Loudon short stop that scored Moree, but Narramore was tagged out at third to end the inning. The Lady Waves held a slim 1-0 lead.
The lead would not be Midway’s for long. In the top of the fourth, Loudon would score two runners on Midway errors. The Green Team went down in order in the fourth and fifth innings. It looked like the one-run lead might hold up for the Lady Redskins.
Then, the Waves got the bottom of the sixth started in a big way when freshman Brianne Reynolds singled to center field. Short stop Alex Coffman smashed a hit to left field and the Waves now had things going their way. Lacey Davidson hit a sharp grounder to short and the Loudon short stop went for the out at home. The only problem for Loudon was that Reynolds had smartly returned to third. Midway now had the bases loaded with no outs. Pitcher Hannah Colyer then helped herself out with a two-run shot to left center field. Colyer’s hit gave the Lady Waves a 3-2 lead and would prove to be the game winner.
Going into the top of the seventh, the Green knew they needed just three outs to end the game. Colyer hit the first batter and the Wave fans got a little nervous. Second baseman Michele Walden had Colyer’s back, though. She fielded the next Loudon hit, tagged out the runner from first and completed the double play. The next Loudon batter grounded out to first baseman Kati Alexander. Colyer picked up the win while allowing only two hits and one walk. She recorded seven strike outs.
This week, the Lady Waves will travel to Coalfield on Monday. They will go to Loudon for a re-match on Friday. Then, they will return home for a double header against Oneida on Saturday at 1:00pm.