The Lady Raiders Fast Pitch Softball Team began their season at home against the Hartfield Hawks. With a starting lineup of two Juniors, a Sophomore, five 8th Graders and a 7th grader, the Lady Raiders jumped out ahead 3-0 in the first inning. After that, a mixed bag of unearned and earned runs kept Hartfield in the game. The score was tied at the end of both the 4th and the 5th innings, 4-4 and 5-5, respectively. In the top of the 6th, Hartfield put up 2 runs to lead 7-5.
The Lady Raiders were in the bottom of the final inning with 2 outs, down 2 runs with Lily Crawford on second. After a walk put Columbia Holeman on base and a couple of stolen bases moved the runners, the Lady Raiders rose to the pressure with a Kathryn Butler single on a hard ground ball up the 3rd base line which brought home Crawford. Holeman’s fast base running brought her home from 2nd to tie it up. Delaney Wallace, who blasted a double in an earlier inning was walked with 4 straight balls. Ashton Berry was at the plate next with runners in scoring position (after a couple of stolen bases) and drove a ball to right field bringing home both Butler and Wallace to secure the win.
The Lady Raider offense were swinging the bats and logged only 2 strikeouts out of 31 plate appearances. The Lady Raider defense kept Hartfield in the game, though by spreading out 5 errors among 5 players, showing some rust in the first game of the season. Ashton Berry gets her first win for the 2014 season with 7 strikeouts and giving up 5 hits and a single earned run.
