CHOCOWINITY — Southside knew it had something special in Alyssa McLawhorn last season. As a freshman, she was instrumental in an 8-10 (4-7 1-A Coastal Plains Conference) campaign that saw the Lady Seahawks earn a postseason bid.

McLawhorn posted an 8-6 record in her rookie season. She struck out 75 batters over 123 innings of work and even had a perfect game.

Now she’s another year older, as is what was once a young core of players for Southside. McLawhorn has been hot out of the gate to lead the Lady Seahawks to a 6-0 (1-0 CPC) start. She averaged just shy of 0.6 strikeouts per inning last year. Early in her sophomore campaign, McLawhorn is fanning an average of 1.5 batters per frame.

“I definitely think my pitching is faster, and my hitting it better,” she said. “I’m hitting it a lot harder than I was last year. I was nervous (last year). I’ve been pitching all my life, but still, I was very nervous. I got really comfortable after the first couple of games.”

Her nine runs and three RBI on 10 hits has contributed to Southside’s 81 runs for in its first six games. The run support helps.

Southside’s defense behind her has been cleaner, too. The Lady Seahawks are committing two errors a game right now, and that’s an area that’s been improving since the opener. So far, it’s been night and day from the 63 mishaps they committed in 18 games a year ago.

McLawhorn is able to settle in easier because of that.

“It’s a lot better because I used to feel like it was all on me, so that adds a lot of stress,” she said. “My defense has been amazing, so I haven’t had to worry.”

Another important factor in Southside’s start and McLawhorn’s success has been her relationship with catcher Maggie Craig. Craig, also a sophomore, has noticed the way their synergy has developed in the last year or so.

“Alyssa and I have known each other for about three years. I’ve always been her catcher,” Craig said. “As soon as we started playing together, we just clicked. She trusts me and I trust her. Last year, we both were really nervous coming in as freshmen. Now we have confidence in each other.”

McLawhorn added, “We have a good pitching-catching relationship. We have great chemistry.”

Southside has a big week ahead of it. McLawhorn and the Lady Seahawks head out to Jones Senior, which is still looking for its first conference win, on Monday. They return to Chocowinity on Tuesday to host Pamlico County, then travel to a top-notch East Carteret club.

Southside can’t afford to look ahead to that showdown with the Lady Mariners, or even further to the next week’s matchup with rival Northside. However, McLawhorn has proved she can take it one step — and one pitch — at a time.