The Midway Lady Waves showed up ready to play for Monday’s district quarterfinal. It was very warm on The Hill, and the Lady Waves came out on fire. The SOR girls defeated the Tellico Lady Bears 7-2, and six of Midway’s runs came in the first inning. Nine Lady Waves came up to bat in that first frame, and six hit safely. Four of those hits were doubles.
Tellico made a pitching change at the end of the inning, which seemed to help cool the Midway bats. The Lady Bears got on the score board in the third inning and added another run in the fourth. In the fifth frame, the Lady Waves put one more runner across the plate.
Leading hitters for the Lady Waves included Halie Wiley (2-3, 2B), Paige Moree (1-2, 2B) and Kayla Roberts (1-1, 2B). Alex Richardson was the winning pitcher.
With Monday’s victory, Midway advanced to face perennial rival Rockwood in the semifinals on Tuesday. The Lady Waves had split the regular season series with the Lady Tigers. Midway went on to finish first in the regular season standings, but there was no doubt to anyone involved that this was a huge game.
A shaky start by the Midway defense contributed to a lot of nervous Lady Wave supporters. Midway errors and Rockwood hits in the top of the first inning gave the Lady Tigers an early 5-0 lead. However, the Lady Waves were not discouraged. The Midway girls came out swinging in the bottom of the inning. A hit by Danielle Borum, along with doubles by Taylor Narramore, Paige Moree and Christina Stansbury helped the Lady Waves close the lead to 5-4. Just like that, the Lady Waves were back in the game!
The Midway girls weren’t done there. In the next inning, singles by Paige Moree and Hayley Patterson helped put three more runs on the board, giving the Lady Waves a 7-5 lead. The Rockwood defense looked a little shell-shocked.
Midway’s defense held strong the rest of the game, not giving up another run. The Lady Waves scored two runs in the fourth, highlighted by a Halie Wiley triple and a solo homer from Alex Richardson. Hits by Patterson and Wiley helped add a final run in the fifth. Final score: Lady Waves 10, Rockwood 5.
Leading hitters for this game included Paige Moree (4-4, 2 2B), Hayley Patterson (2-3) and Halie Wiley (2-4, 3B). Alex Richardson was once again the winner from the pitching circle.
With this win, the Lady Waves advance to Wednesday’s final. They will face the winner of an elimination game between Rockwood and the Grace Lady Rams. The elimination game will start at 3:30 on Wednesday, with the final starting at approximately 5:30. A Midway victory would secure a sixth straight District 3A Championship for the Lady Waves. In the event of a Rockwood win, another final game would be played on Thursday.
Goos job Renfro. See what you can do when you are motivated.