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Sophomore Molleigh Woodard hits the ball at the home game against Hayesville on Monday, April 1. -
Sophomore Rylee Rawls at the plate at the game against Hayesville, which the Lady Devils won 11-1.
Larry Griffin
lgriffin@thesmokymountaintimes.com
The Lady Devils softball team got to go home early after a mercy rule win of 11-1 over the Hayesville Lady Yellow Jackets on a seasonable spring day Monday, April 1.
The game saw pitcher Rylee Rawls delivering many strong throws that hit the catcher’s mitt hard and prevented the Lady Yellow Jackets from getting in too many hits.
While the Lady Yellow Jackets got the first run, the Lady Devils weren’t far behind – and by the third inning, they were firing on all cylinders and rapidly outpacing opponents.
Sophomore Maddie Bird hit out of the field and was able to score a run, putting them at 2-1 over their rivals.
The third inning was when the Lady Devils secured their lead which would win the game early. Finding a groove, the team was able to start quickly working their way around the field. Sophomore Kennedy Anthony popped a home run and was able to quickly got around the field. Then moments later, Rawls got a hit and landed on first base. Following her, junior Faith Woodard got a hit and then sophomore Carley Teesateskie got a big hit that cleared the fence with no hope of getting it back. Then Rawls, Woodard and Teesateskie were all able to circle the bases easily.
The Lady Devils weren’t done yet – in the same inning, junior Kaley Parker got slowly around the bases as the Lady Yellow Jackets failed to stop her, getting home and scoring yet another point.
Before the inning was up, another multi-player run spree was conducted. It started with a low hit from freshman Allie Stephenson that cleared the bases, and their opponents were unable to get the ball back in time to stop a number of Lady Devils already on bases from getting home and racking up more points. Junior Mya Adams was already on third and got home. She was followed by sophomore Molleigh Woodard and then Anthony, both of whom were waiting on earlier bases.
The score at the end of the third inning was 11-1 in favor of the Lady Devils.
The fourth inning went by with no more scoring, but much hitting and then tagging out. As the fifth inning started with the Lady Devils 10 points up over the Lady Yellow Jackets, the game was called early.
After the game as everyone lingered on the field enjoying the win, Coach Toby Burrell said he was satisfied with the game and it “feels good” that the team had been hitting and pitching so well – he said Rawls had “another good pitching performance.” Asked what the team would be working on, he said, “everything – every day.”
Some of the Lady Devils said they were pleased with the game, too. “I thought we hit really well, and we came together as a team,” Anthony said.
Freshman Emma Maney agreed: “It went really good. We did a good job not getting down on ourselves when they scored first.”
Parker said they’d “had a lot of fun,” while sophomore Maddie Bird said they were working on “being a family” as a team.
The Lady Devils’ next game is scheduled for tonight, April 4, as a home game against Tuscola.