McKenzie Williams looks down for instructions from third base coach Cullen Clark before stepping in for a seventh inning at-bat.
Mike Carter|For the Independent
Midway swept in state series; Raiders rally, but runners-up for second straight year
Kyleigh Stonerock winds up to deliver a seventh inning pitch.
Mike Carter|For the Independent
Midway’s Ella Clark slides safely back to first base ahead of the tag of Southwestern Randolph’s Macie Crutchfield on this pick-off play.
Mike Carter|For the Independent
Tamia Gwynn lays down a bunt to advance a baserunner during fourth inning action.
Mike Carter|For the Independent
Midway’s McKenzie Williams holds on tight to the ball as Southwestern Randolph’s Lillian Payne collides with her on a close play at first base.
Mike Carter|For the Independent
Raider shortstop Kiley Ives gathers herself for the throw to first after making a nice stop on a ball that tried to handcuff her between hops.
Mike Carter|For the Independent
Midway’s Eva McLamb slides safely across home plate with scoring the Raiders first run of the game on Saturday afternoon.
Mike Carter|For the Independent
Tamia Gwynn snaps her glove on fly ball to center field, recording a fifth inning put-out.
Mike Carter|For the Independent
Jordyn Christopher puts bat on ball for a second inning base hit.
Mike Carter|For the Independent
Midway’s Kiley Ives applies the tag to Southwestern Randolph’s Madelyn Smith after Smith had slid past second on a first inning steal attempt.
Mike Carter|For the Independent
It was a tale of two games for the Midway softball team this past weekend in the State Championship series in Greensboro. Unfortunately for the hometown team, both games ended in losses but the Lady Raiders put up one heck of a fight and proved that they belonged in the title games. After being blown out in Game 1 on Friday, 13-0, Midway came back gallantly in Game 2 on Saturday and gave Southwest Randolph everything they wanted. It took a seventh inning rally for the Lady Cougars to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat but they accomplished just that and stole a 3-2 victory to win the state championship.
Friday night’s opening game couldn’t have gone any worse for Midway as Southwest Randolph came out and unexpectedly smacked one hit after another. From start to shortened finish, solid contact of ball on bat was made all night long as the Lady Cougars piled on 17 hits. For the Lady Raiders, they struggled at the plate as MVP pitcher Macie Crutchfield was dominant and had her bid for a perfect game stolen on a beautiful bunt by Tamia Gwynn. Outside of that, this game was all Southwest Randolph as the Lady Cougars simply couldn’t be stopped. At the end of the night, Midway was left reeling and doing some soul searching, needing a big response for Saturday after falling 13-0.
Game 2 went much more like the series was expected to go. A low scoring pitchers duel that saw the offenses fighting for every advantage they could muster up. Freshman pitcher Kyleigh Stonerock, who didn’t have the best of nights on Friday, came back on Saturday and turned in a terrific performance, helping to cool down the bats of Southwest Randolph.
In the fourth inning, after getting a couple of batters aboard, the Lady Raiders used some small ball to get the first run of the game, scoring on a succession of bunts that proved problematic for the Lady Cougars. It didn’t keep them down, though, as they came right back in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game back up.
The score remained 1-1 until Midway recaptured the lead in the top of the sixth. The Lady Raiders could have dealt more damage as they had bases loaded but Southwest Randolph got out of the jam to leave the score at 2-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, Stonerock and her defense delivered their best performance of the series, inducing three infield flyouts on just four pitches.
With that, Midway was right back up to bat, looking to add some insurance runs. Instead, the Lady Cougars held the Lady Raiders off, sending the game to the final at-bat with Midway leading 2-1.
The Lady Raiders got the first out of the inning before Haleigh Thompson got a single to put the tying run on first. Stonerock fanned the next batter, giving the Midway defense two outs…one away from forcing Game 3. That’s when Madelyn Smith put down a hard ground ball toward Jordan Christopher at third base. Christopher didn’t get her glove down in time and the ball rolled into the outfield for another hit, moving the tying run to second. Then…disaster struck. Kami Dunn sent a drive into left field that dropped in front of Eva McLamb. McLamb’s throw home was not in time and a collision at the plate between courtesy runner Sara-Kate Marion and Midway catcher Mollie Bass allowed the ball to roll away. That allowed Smith to also come in and score the winning run, delivering heartbreak to the Lady Raiders, who had put up an incredible effort to get back into the series.
After the game, Crutchfield was named MVP of the State Championship and Midway returned home for the second year in a row with the title of state runners-up. With that, the Lady Raiders conclude their season at 21-5 overall and with plenty to look forward to next season. Just two seniors depart this year’s team so already expectations will be high.