Grading Out: Consistency helps two teams stay undefeated
Published 12:07 pm Monday, March 13, 2017
Two weeks in and Beaufort County still has two perfect teams. Northside baseball and Southside softball are unbeaten. The early success is a sum of the entire team’s efforts, but both groups have had some standouts that guided the way.
Even those that aren’t undefeated have excelled early on. Washington has played stiff competition in its non-conference slate and still sits above .500.
Here are a few of this past week’s superstars.
HAILEY HARRIS, WASHINGTON
Washington ended its week with back-to-back wins over Northside and Northern Nash. Hailey Harris played a big role in the Lady Pack winning by a combined 21 runs.
With two scored and two RBI, Harris accounted for four of Washington’s six runs against Northside. She turned around and went 3-for-4 at the plate the next day, hitting a triple and a three-run homer to collect six RBI. She also struck out 10 batters in five innings.
ZACH WOOLARD, NORTHSIDE
This week saw Northside pick up three more wins to add on to its undefeated start. Zach Woolard made two appearances on the mound and earned two wins. He threw three frames of shutout baseball while his team made a late push to beat Washington.
Woolard started Friday’s 1-A Coastal Plains Conference opener against Lejeune. He conceded a run in three innings before handing the ball over to Reg Bishop. He didn’t pitch against South Creek, but scored a run in a 15-3 lambasting of the Cougars.
ALYSSA MCLAWHORN, SOUTHSIDE
Sophomore pitcher Alyssa McLawhorn helped lead Southside to three more wins to extend its undefeated start to five in a row. She started the week with a five-inning perfect game against Columbia.
From there, she threw three frames of one-hit softball as the Lady Seahawks soared past Kinston, 17-0. She ran into trouble against South Creek. The Lady Cougars got 10 hits off her, and her defense had three errors, but McLawhorn battled through it for the win.
RACHEL LANG, NORTHSIDE
Just a day after getting shutout by Washington for its first loss of the season, Northside bounced back with a 17-2 win over Lejeune in its 1-A Coastal Plains Conference opener.
Rachel Lang let freshman Madison Braddy take care of pitching duties, but still made an impact. She had three hits, including a home run, for four runs and an RBI.
MAGGIE CRAIG, SOUTHSIDE
While Alyssa McLawhorn staved off opposing batter, Maggie Craig lit up the pitchers she faced this past week. In three games last week, Craig scored eight runs and batted in six more.
Craig showed a bit of her power with a pair of extra-base hits on the week. Craig also got a chance to pitch in Southside’s 17-0 win over Kinston. She took the ball for an inning and struck out two of the three batters she faced.