Softball

West Stanly sweeps Midway in 2A softball championship with 10-0 win in Game 2

In recent years, winning a state championship has become an annual experience for West Stanly softball.
Posted 2023-06-03T17:09:47+00:00 - Updated 2023-06-03T18:11:32+00:00

In recent years, winning a state championship has become an annual experience for West Stanly softball.

That tradition continued on Saturday as the Colts capped off a 31-1 season with a six-inning 10-0 win over Midway in Game 2 of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A state championship series at Duke’s softball stadium to claim their fourth consecutive state title.

“Yesterday we got all the jitters out, and today we just came in prepared and focused,” West Stanly head coach Emily Smith said. “We kind of knew what the pitching style was going to be since we had seen it one day already, so I think they just came in ready to end this in two games.”

West Stanly now has six state championships as a program and was dominant in the championship-clinching win. Senior ace Lily Huneycutt, named the most valuable player, recorded her 500th career strikeout in the first inning of an 11-punchout performance, and each Colt starter recorded a hit.

“It was my last game with my girls,” Huneycutt said. “I just knew I needed to have fun and not stress it because I knew they always had my back throughout the entire season.”

Shortstop Teagan Ritchie hit a pair of triples, third baseman Payton Little crushed a home run and a double and center fielder Aliyah Rush provided a pair of doubles. West Stanly finished with 17 hits, and seven of the Colts’ first 11 went for extra bases.

Midway, which made its first appearance in the state championship, ends the season 22-7.

After scoring only four runs in Friday’s series-opening win, West Stanly got a jumpstart on its scoring, putting up a three spot in the first inning that included three extra-base hits. No. 2 hitter Ritchie tripled to deep center and was brought home on an infield single by pitcher Lily Huneycutt. One batter later, Little crushed a two-run homer over the center field wall, her seventh of the year.

The hit parade continued in the second. Second baseman Kristen Smith and Huneycutt each hit RBI singles before catcher Carmen McRae drove in a pair with a single of her own to center field. Rush’s double made it 8-0 and forced Midway to make a pitching change, replacing Sarah Autry with Jordyn Christopher, the Game 1 starter, with two outs in the second.

While Midway made Huneycutt work hard to get out of innings in Friday’s 4-2 loss, the Raiders found things much more difficult against her on Saturday. Mallory Baggett singled against Huneycutt in the second, but that was Midway’s only hit of the game.

Midway’s Christopher did well in relief, but West Stanly’s early damage allowed the Colts to cruise.

In the bottom of the fifth, West Stanly added to its lead thanks to a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Little. West Stanly clinched the run rule-shortened victory in the sixth with a single to center field by Brooklyn Lovin that led to an error, allowing Rush to score.

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