After Thursday night’s thrilling comeback win over Pender, Midway’s softball team made the short trip down Highway 421 to take on winless Clinton on Friday night. The Lady Raiders got the better of the Lady Dark Horses, taking advantage of some hot hitting to win 13-1 in a mercy rule-shortened game.

Midway started the scoring in the top of the first inning as leadoff batter JJ Sankey scored the first run to give Midway a 1-0 lead early.

Clinton answered in the bottom of the inning as Lauren Moore moved around the bases for the score to tie things up 1-1 after one inning.

Midway exploded in the second inning, however, to blow the game open. The Lady Raiders generated seven runs in the top of the inning to take a commanding 8-1 lead. Sankey, Caitlyn Holland, Laura Person, Blythe Best, Hannah Lucas, Erin Barefoot, and Hannah Jackson all came across the plate to help produce Midway’s runs in the second.

Midway had another big inning in the fifth inning, scoring five more runs to push the score to 13-1. Again it was the top of Midway’s lineup that began the flurry as Sankey, Holland, Person, Wrench and Best all scored runs to push Midway over the mercy-rule threshold.

Clinton was unable to put together any scores after the opening inning as Midway’s bats and defense was just too strong. Midway went on to secure the win, 13-1.

After the game, Midway head coach Leigh Ann Smith complimented sophomore Erin Barefoot, who was brought up from the JV team for pitching duties to start the contest. Smith also noted that her team played well and alluded that her team’s next few games are going to be tough ones as the season moves deeper into Four County Conference play.

Over on the Clinton side, head coach Todd Slater felt his team played solid down the stretch despite the final score.

“I think if we can play every inning like we did the last two or three we can be in every game. We have to calm ourselves down when we make a mistake and that’ll come as the season moves on,” Slater noted.

Slater also highlighted some areas that his team can work on going forward.

“Compared to the first two or three games of the season, we’re hitting the ball better but I’d like to see us put the bat on the ball more. Work on finding some holes, but right now, I think defensively is where we are focusing right now. We need to limit our errors and not allow one error to lead to more,” he concluded.

With the win, Midway improves to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the Four County Conference. They will host Wallace-Rose Hill on Tuesday.

For Clinton, they fall to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play. They are back in action on Tuesday as well, hosting Union.

Midway’s Blythe Best sends a shot back toward the Clinton defense.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_Blythe.jpgMidway’s Blythe Best sends a shot back toward the Clinton defense.

Clinton’s Hailee Stone fires in a pitch on Friday night.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_CHS-15.jpgClinton’s Hailee Stone fires in a pitch on Friday night.
Midway wins 13-1, keeps Horses winless on season

By Daron Barefoot

Sports Editor

Reach Sports Editor Daron Barefoot at [email protected].