It was a packed house on Tuesday evening for the big county showdown between the Midway Lady Wave softball team and the rival Kingston Lady Jackets. If the crowd came out to see a good softball game, they weren’t disappointed.
This game started out as a defensive battle. Pitcher Hannah Colyer was the only Midway batter to reach base in the first inning, and she did so on a walk. The Lady Waves answered in the bottom of the inning by retiring three Lady Jackets in order. A grounder was cleanly fielded by third baseman Michele Walden and thrown to first baseman Kati Alexander for the first out. Two strike outs by Colyer put the Lady Waves back on deck.
In the top of the second frame, no Midway batter reached base. In the bottom of the inning, Midway fans got a little nervous when a Lady Jacket reached on an error. The Lady Waves recovered quickly, however. Solid fielding for the rest of the inning got Midway out safely.
Short stop Alex Coffman walked to get on base in the third, but the Lady Waves were unable to score. In the bottom of the inning, Colyer started out strong with a strike out. On the next batter, however, Kingston hit to deep right field. The ball bounced over the fence to make it a ground rule double, and the Lady Jackets had a runner in scoring position. Colyer was not shaken. She came back with another strike out, then fielded a hit ball and threw it to Alexander for the third out.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Midway fans finally saw some fireworks. With one out, Hannah Colyer came to the plate and knocked a solid single up the middle of the infield. Time was called and speedy courtesy runner Danielle Borum came in to replace Colyer on the bases. After Michele Walden drew a walk to put two on, Kati Alexander stepped to the plate. Alexander came up big, hitting an RBI single that pushed Borum across home plate. The score now stood at 1-0, in favor of the Lady Waves. Midway was not done. Later in the inning, with two outs, second baseman Taylor Narramore hit a high pop fly to shallow left field. The Kingston fielder was not able to handle it, and both Walden and Alexander scored on the play. Kingston managed to get the next batter out, but Midway now led, 3-0. Colyer made a nice defensive play to help get Midway’s first out in the bottom. She knocked down a hard line drive and recovered to make the throw to Alexander at first. Krystal Rue, now playing short stop, fielded a grounder and threw to Alexander for the second out. After a Colyer strike out, the Lady Waves were out of the inning.
Midway was not able to put any runs on the board in the top of the fifth, but also held the Lady Jackets scoreless in the bottom of the inning. A slow grounder fielded by Alexander, a pop out to center fielder Paige Moree and another strike out by Colyer ended the frame.
In the sixth inning, Midway got another runner in scoring position when Walden hit a bomb over the head of the Kingston center fielder and to the fence, then later stole on over to second. The Lady Waves could not capitalize, though. The lead remained 3-0 as the Midway defense took the field for the bottom of the sixth. A Lady Jacket batter singled to start the inning, then quickly stole second and third. The next Kingston batter hit a grounder to Alexander. She fielded the ball and tossed it to Narramore, who covered first base for the out. The runner at third had a good jump, however, and crossed the plate to score on the play. Midway 3, Kingston 1. Colyer fielded another grounder and threw to Alexander for the second out, but the next batter singled on a chopper to the infield. The Lady Jackets attempted a bunt on the next batter, but Alex Coffman, now playing catcher, fielded the ball and made the throw to Alexander at first base for the third out.
The seventh inning saw no runners on base for the Lady Waves. The Midway defense came through in the bottom of the inning, though. Colyer fielded a grounder and threw to Alexander at first base to get the first out. Moree caught a line drive shot to center field for the second out. Rue took a routine grounder and made the throw to Alexander for the last out of the game. Final score: Midway 3, Kingston 1.
It was a hard fought contest throughout, and a hard earned win for the Lady Waves. Hannah Colyer recorded six strike outs and was backed up by solid fielding. The Kingston pitching was also very good, but Midway came through at the plate and on the base paths. The Lady Waves will be in action again on Wednesday, when they host Webb School of Knoxville. Game time is set for 5:30 PM.