The Midway Lady Raiders opened their 2026 softball season Wednesday night with a strong showing, hosting Overhills in nonconference play. Midway wasted no time taking control, erupting for a big first-inning lead and cruising the rest of the way to a 12–2 victory in five innings.
Midway junior pitcher Kyleigh Stonerock hit the first batter she faced to open the season but quickly settled in and struck out the next three batters. When the Lady Raiders stepped to the plate in the bottom of the inning, they wasted little time getting their offense going.
Macy Raynor led things off with a single, followed by Ella Clark, who smacked a double into left field to put runners in scoring position. Mollie Bass followed with a single that scored both runners to make it 2-0. Singles by Stonerock and Maggie Phillips pushed the lead to 4-0 as Midway continued to roll with no outs.
After Peyton Herring recorded the first out on a fly ball to right field, Lauralee Harris reached base on an error and the Lady Raiders’ surge continued. Mackenzie Odom followed with a hard-hit ground ball single into left field, scoring Phillips to make it 5-0. Maelyn Phillips stepped in next and delivered another RBI, scoring Harris on a line drive into left to extend the lead to 6-0.
Two batters later, the biggest swing of the inning came from Clark, who blasted a three-run home run to left field, pushing the advantage to 9-0 before the Lady Jaguars could finally stop the bleeding.
Overhills continued to struggle at the plate in its next at-bat, going three up, three down as Midway quickly returned to the batter’s box. This time the Lady Raiders added just one run, as Odom laced a single to center field to score Herring, who had opened the inning with a single. The run stretched Midway’s lead to 10-0 after two innings.
A pitching change in the top of the fourth inning helped Overhills find a small spark. Autumn Portmann led the inning off with a triple and scored two batters later on a dropped third strike. Sophie Caston later reached safely on a bunt at the plate, trimming the deficit to 10-2.
That was as close as the Lady Jaguars would get. Midway added one run in the bottom of the fourth and another in the fifth to secure the 12-2 run-rule victory.
The Lady Raiders delivered a strong performance at the plate, collecting 15 hits as a team — an area that proved to be a challenge for Midway at times last season.
Bass and Odom each finished with three hits, while Raynor, Clark and Herring recorded two hits apiece. Stonerock, Maggie Phillips and Maelyn Phillips added one hit each.
In the circle, Stonerock recorded seven strikeouts while allowing just one hit, one hit batter and no runs. Odom later entered in relief, finishing with four strikeouts while allowing one hit and two runs.
With their first victory of the season secured, Midway returned home Friday night to host Hoggard in another nonconference matchup.