Mumford leads Southside past Northside
Published 10:08 pm Tuesday, April 5, 2011
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Southside’s Savannah Mumford crosses home plate after hitting a solo, inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning of the Seahawks’ 9-2 victory over Northside on Tuesday at Northside High School. Mumford finished the game going 4-for-4 from the plate and was the game’s winning pitcher. Northside catcher Jena Payne is pictured to the right. (WDN Photo/Brian Haines)
YEATESVILLE — Savannah Mumford may have been feeling ill as she took the field against Four Rivers Conference rival Northside, but the only thing that was sick on Tuesday was her play. Mumford was a force at the plate, where she went 4-for-4 and hit the go-ahead home run, while on the mound she turned a 10-strikeout performance to lead Southside to a 9-2 victory over the Panthers.
Mumford pitched all seven innings and allowed a mere four hits while walking only two batters. At the dish, Mumford hit two singles before drilling and inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning that would prove to be the game-winning run. The sophomore doubled in her final at bat and finished the game with two RBIs and two runs scored and two stolen bases.
“She stepped up. She was feeling sick tonight and I said just give me two hours and then you can be as sick as you want to be,” Southside coach John Lohman joked. “She did a great job tonight … She just brings so much to this team.”
The Seahawks (11-1, 6-1) had several contributors on Tuesday as the were able to get 13 hits off of Northside (3-6, 3-3) ace Lillyann Arnold. Southside would need just about all of those hits as the game was much closer than the final score would indicate.
After a scoreless first inning, the Seahawks broke the ice when Sondra Sparks, who reached base on a Northside error, was driven home by Macy Paramore to take a 1-0 lead.
Southside would add another run in the third when Mumford crossed home plate on a Chris Morris grounder that was misplayed by the Panthers, who committed two errors on back-to-back plays.
The Seahawks went up 3-0 in fifth when Mumford drilled a solo home run deep to left field. In the sixth, the Seahawks began to put the game out of reach as they rallied for three runs thanks to a Katy Laughinghouse two-run single and a Mumford RBI double.
Northside, who threatened a few times early in the game, responded in the bottom of the sixth when Caroline Slade blasted a two-run, inside-the-park home run to cut the lead to 6-2. However, the Panthers would not score again.
Southside put the finishing touches on the game with a three-run seventh inning that featured an RBI single by Sparks, a run-scoring sacrifice bunt by Bailey Hobbs and run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder by Megan Smith.
Arnold was the game’s losing pitcher as she pitched 6 2/3 innings and struck out five. For the Northside star hurler it was a tough night as Southside found a way to continually get the bat on the ball while the Panthers’ defense, which committed five errors, didn’t turn in their best performance.
“We made a few errors that cost us a number of runs,” Northside coach Jack Beirne said. “If you take away the errors I think it would have been a closer ball game.”
On the flip side, the Seahawks have been playing solid defense and that is a big reason why they were able to top Riverside on Monday and beat Northside on Tuesday. With those back-to-back wins, Southside is tied for first place with Riverside and South Creek, both of which the Seahawks have beaten already this season.
“It’s been two games in a row with minimal or no errors,” Lohman said. “That’s a good sign.”
The Seahawks will be back in action on Thursday when they play at Camden, while the Panthers will look to rebound today at home against South Creek.
Southside 011 013 3 č 9 13 1
Northside 000 002 0 č 2 4 5
WP: Savannah Mumford; LP: Lillyann Arnold
Hitting: SS č Savannah Mumford 4-4 (HR, 2 RBIs, 2 R), Valerie Hodges 1-4, Chris Morris 1-4 (R), Marlin Edwards 1-4, Sondra Sparks 2-4 (RBI, 2 R), Bailey Hobbs 1-4 (RBI), Macy Paramore 1-3 (RBI), Katy Laughinghouse 1-4 (2 RBI); NS č Jena Payne 1-4, Caroline Slade 2-2 (HR, 2 RBI), Hannah Bowen 1-3.