Draughn’s Avie Helton came through time and time again during the Lady Wildcats’ second and final game of the second annual Catawba County Easter Softball Classic, presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods, on Tuesday at Stanford Park in Hickory.
Not only did Helton pitch all eight innings of Draughn’s 4-3 victory over St. Stephens, but her triple with one out in the bottom of the eighth scored fellow senior Cydnee Deal — who had just tied things at 3-all thanks to a single that plated Braylen Clontz — with the game-winning run.
Helton also singled and scored a run earlier in the contest, and 77 of the 116 pitches she threw were strikes. Helton limited the Lady Indians to three runs (two earned) on six hits, striking out eight, issuing one walk, and hitting two batters.
Clontz (double, single) and Deal (two singles) also registered two hits apiece for Draughn (12-3, 8-0 Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conf.), while Ava Aldridge recorded a triple and Maria Medrano added a double.
A few hours earlier, the Lady Wildcats managed just two hits — a double from Aldridge and a single from Helton that scored her moments later — in a 5-1 loss to Bunker Hill, which received a complete game from junior pitcher Serena Thurman. Thurman struck out 12, issued no walks, and hit two batters as she improved to 8-1 on the season.
On the other side, sophomore hurler Makenzie Powell provided Draughn with six innings of five-run (four earned), six-hit ball during which she struck out eight, issued no walks, and hit a batter.
The Lady Wildcats didn’t compete on day two of the Catawba County Easter Classic — Tuesday featured pool play before tournament play began on Wednesday — which means that they will return to action next week having won 10 of their last 11 games.
Draughn previously earned a 10-2 triumph at league foe Hibriten on April 2, with Medrano recording four hits including a double to go with two RBIs and three runs scored. Furthermore, the Lady Wildcats got two hits apiece from Clontz (double, single, two RBIs, two runs, SB), Deal (two RBIs), Aldridge (double, single), and Powell (two singles, run) to go with one each from Bailey Winkler (single, RBI, run) and Helton (single, RBI).
Lindsey Hensley walked twice, stole a base, and scored three runs for Draughn, while Helton gave up two runs (one earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts and one walk in a complete-game effort.
Freedom (6-13, 1-5 Northwestern 6A/7A Conf.) also participated in the Catawba County Easter Classic, losing to Hibriten by an 8-6 final on Tuesday, falling by a 10-0 score in six innings against Bunker Hill on Wednesday, and knocking off St. Stephens by a 6-4 final in the third-place game that was also played on Wednesday.
Despite coming up short on the scoreboard during Tuesday’s contest, the Lady Patriots outhit Hibriten 12-10 behind three singles each from Abigayle Gibson (RBI, two runs) and Bella Creegan (run), two singles from Madelyn LeMaster (RBI), a home run from Rumi Campbell (four RBIs, run), and a single apiece from Hallie Ollis (run), Caylyn Taylor (run), and Addison Webb.
As for Wednesday’s games, they saw Freedom record just one hit — a single from Kaitlyn Hagmann — in the early contest before scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh to earn a walk-off win over St. Stephens. All-tournament team selections Campbell (two singles, RBI, two runs) and Skinner (double, two RBIs, run, SB) were two of the Lady Patriots’ offensive standouts against the Lady Indians, while LeMaster (single, RBI), Gibson (single, run), and Rhiley Buchanan (single) had their other hits.
LeMaster also tossed a complete game in the pitcher’s circle, surrendering four runs (two earned) on five hits with 11 strikeouts and five walks while also hitting a batter.
And in a previous 8-3 defeat at Watauga on April 2, the Lady Patriots suffered their fourth straight league loss despite getting two hits each from Webb (two singles, RBI), Gibson (double, single, run), and LeMaster (two singles) as well as an RBI single and a stolen base from Skinner.
In other recent action, East Burke (2-9, 1-7 WPC) fell behind 7-0 in the fourth and was never able to recover in a 9-3 home loss to R-S Central on April 2, although the Lady Cavaliers did record 10 hits behind two apiece from Amanda McLean (RBI) and Linda Crawford (run) and one each from Alyssa Shoemaker (RBI), Ally Boyette (RBI), Hermione Garro (run), Lillian Brittain, Ava Bivens, and Emily Shoemaker. Additionally, Boyette (3 IP, ER, 2 H, BB) was EB’s most effective pitcher.
Finally, Patton (4-8, 1-7 WPC) was defeated by a 12-2 score in five innings on April 2 at West Caldwell, where the Lady Warriors scored in all four of their at-bats. The only hits for the Lady Panthers came on a double from Jolann Buff (RBI, run) and a single from Ady Moorefield (RBI).
GIRLS SOCCER
Patton, NCSSM-M notch wins
The Lady Panthers (10-1-1, 5-1-1 WPC) scored five goals in the opening half and four in the second half as they collected their sixth shutout victory of the season by winning 9-0 on April 2 at West Caldwell.
Ana Sic and Carlie Harris each had three goals for Patton, which also received one goal apiece from Jaxyn Nolen, Becca Velasquez, and Katrina Vu, two assists from Lydia Jones, and one assist from Brenda Lopez-Ortiz.
NCSSM-Morganton (4-3, 4-1 Catawba River 1A/2A/3A Conf.) was also victorious recently, defeating visiting Jackson Day by a 9-0 score on Wednesday behind three goals and one assist from Elyse Rea, three goals from Nicole Taylor, two goals from Ennis Marcus, one goal and two assists from Hannah Xu, and two assists from Amelia Fleury.
In other matches on April 2, East Burke (2-7-1, 2-5 WPC) lost to R-S Central by a 3-1 final in Icard — the Lady Cavaliers didn’t report the name of their goal scorer — while Freedom (3-8-1, 1-3 NWC) lost by a 9-0 score at Watauga and Draughn (1-6-4, 0-5-2 WPC) was forced to forfeit its scheduled road contest against Hibriten due to not having enough healthy players.
TRACK & FIELD
Lady Panthers win two events at South Caldwell meet
Patton traveled to South Caldwell on April 1 and came away with a pair of first-place finishes, both on the girls side, as Elisabeth Sawdy won the 1600 meters with a time of 5:21.15 and Julia Niehoff won the 800 meters with a time of 2:45.10.
Sawdy was also the runner-up in the 400 meters, while teammates Layla McGuire and Nora Wykle came in second and third, respectively, in the 1600 meters ahead of Niehoff in fourth.
On the boys side, Patton’s top performers were Jet Chatman with a fourth-place finish in the 100 meters and David Lipscomb with a fourth-place time in the 400 meters.
East Burke’s Bryson Church then competed in Appalachian State’s high school meet on April 4 in Boone, finishing third in the boys shot put.
NOTE: Results from a meet hosted by Alexander Central on April 1 that involved Freedom, Draughn, and the North Carolina School for the Deaf were reported in last week’s edition of The Paper.
LACROSSE
Patton swept at Saint
The Patton boys (1-9, 0-8) fell by a 14-4 final in a road match against St. Stephens on April 2, while the Lady Panthers (1-9, 1-7) were defeated by a 19-5 score in the early contest.
No statistics were available from either match.
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