Caleb Bailey, Sports Editor
The No. 19 Armstrong Pirates’ softball team took back to the field this weekend as they looked to continue their winning ways.
They met up with the Young Harris Mountain Lions on Saturday, April 2 and the Montevallo Falcons on Sunday, April 3 in a pair of Peach Belt Conference doubleheaders.
The Pirates had an eight game winning streak entering the first game on Friday and continued that with a big showing from freshman Logan Harrell. She drove in two of the Pirates’ three runs, while junior Tori Bates preserved the 3-2 win with a complete game, four strikeout effort, for which she was named Peach Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week.
Harrell’s two RBIs came off a two-run home run, her fourth of the season, in the top of the seventh inning that stretched the lead out to 3-0. The Mountain Lions fought back in the bottom half of the final inning, scoring both of their runs on errors by the Pirates. The second game was just as exciting as the first, but it didn’t go as well for the Pirates.
Young Harris built an early 3-0 lead in the third with a home run by Hannah Harrison and a two-RBI sacrifice fly out by Grace Botti. The Pirates fought back with their own three-run fifth inning after a pair of RBI singles by freshman Macy Coleman and senior Ashley Sterritt. The two teams fought to a 4-4 tie and in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Mountain Lions put the game away with a walkoff single by Murphy Davis.
The Pirates dropped their first game since March 12, but were able to get things turned around with a sweep of the Falcons on Sunday. They used a myriad of small-ball plays in the first game to move to a 5-1 victory. Armstrong scored its five runs between the second and fourth innings, getting an RBI from Harrell and a sacrifice groundout by junior Jane Trzaska in the third.
Junior Hannah Reppert added onto the lead with a RBI single in the fourth. Harrell added her second RBI of the game with a single in the same inning, moving the Pirates to a 5-1 victory. In the second game, the Pirates racked up 17 hits, while allowing only three from the Falcons.
Six different Pirate batters recorded an RBI on the day with freshman Connor Weaver smacking a twoRBI single in the top of the sixth inning to stretch their lead to 10-1. The Pirates were able to add on three runs thanks to errors and a walk by the Falcons.
They moved on to the nine-run victory in six innings to get back on the winning track. Armstrong, now 27-9 and 11-3 in the PBC, returned home for a conference matchup against USC Aiken on Wednesday, April 6.
They hit the road once again for a pair of doubleheaders against UNC Pembroke and Francis Marion, which take place on Saturday, April 9, and Sunday, respectively.
