By: Shawn Renfro
Tuesday ushered in a new era of Midway Lady Wave softball, but also took a look back at its rich history. To commemorate the long awaited addition of stadium lighting to the Midway softball field, an opening day ceremony was held to recognize all former Lady Wave players. Also present for the festivities were some of the men and women who have been integral to the formation and furthering of the softball program through the years. Barry Narramore, who has served as president of Midway Youth League for the past several years, hosted the event. One of the guest speakers was Bruce Parks, who was previously president of MYL and was one of the founders of the baseball and softball program at Midway. Also speaking were Scott Mason, who is the current principal of Midway High School, and Houston Raby, who was MHS principal when the softball program was instituted. Many members of county government were also present, along with members of this past season’s championship-winning Midway Middle School softball team.
The four Lady Wave seniors put the icing on the event when they flipped the switch and turned on the new lights. The new coaching staff was also introduced Tuesday. Megan Arndts, who is a former Meigs High and Tennessee Wesleyan College player, will be taking the helm for her first season as head coach. Coach Arndts’ assistant is Billy Richardson, who should be familiar to Lady Wave fans. Coach Richardson has coached and tutored players in the Midway softball program for several years.
Another change this season is a much tougher regular season schedule. In each of the past two seasons, Midway has fallen just short in Sub-State play. Making it to Sub-State would be a dream for many programs, but the girls in green expect to win it every year. In hopes of preparing the Lady Waves for the kind of competition they could face in the postseason this year, the Midway staff has lined up a formidable non-district schedule. After Tuesday’s ceremony, the Lady Wave roster was introduced and they took the field to play perennial AA powerhouse Alcoa. The Lady Tornadoes were indeed stiff competition, bringing an ace pitcher and some solid hitting to the table. The Lady Waves managed three hits on the day, by senior center fielder Danielle Borum (1-3, 2 SB), junior pitcher Alex Richardson (1-3) and junior left fielder Alisa Barger (1-3). However, the Midway girls did not manage to score on the tough Alcoa defense. To the Lady Waves’ credit, they gave up only four runs to a very good offensive team.
On Wednesday, Midway traveled to Knoxville to face another tough opponent in the AAA Knox Catholic Fighting Irish. Catholic came out swinging and scored three runs in the bottom of the first frame, but the Lady Waves would answer in the top of the second. After first baseman Taylr Hall singled, Alisa Barger and senior third baseman Hali Morris also reached to load up the bases. Then, Danielle Borum stepped to the plate and delivered. Borum crushed a grand slam home run to clear the bases and give the Midway girls a 4-3 lead!
That lead would not last long, though. In the bottom of the third inning, the Irish came back with four runs of their own. The capable slap hitters of Catholic attempted to put a lot of pressure on the Midway defense, and their game plan succeeded. However, that’s the main reason the Lady Waves are playing good AAA programs – to see this kind of softball and to get used to playing against it. In the final four innings, the Lady Waves held Catholic to only one run.
The Lady Waves made another push in the top of the fourth inning, when Alisa Barger doubled and Hali Morris once again reached base. Danielle Borum then came through again, this time with a 2 RBI double. Borum would finish the game batting 2 for 3 with a home run, 6 RBI and a walk. The Lady Waves would come up a little short in this one, losing 8-6, but gaining valuable experience.
The SOR girls are now off for Spring Break, but will resume play this coming weekend when they travel to Meigs County for a tournament.