Extra base hits fuel SC

The South Central offense found the gaps Thursday against Southern Athletic Conference rival New Washington to top the visiting team, 6-2.
South Central coach Roger Deaton worked four hours on the field after rain dampened it earlier in the week to put the field in playing condition.
The hard work was rewarded with a big afternoon at the plate and a consistent pitching performance from Megan Sanders.
‘We had to shuffle the lineup because of some stuff that happened away from the field, but Megan stepped in to get her first varsity victory tonight,’ Deaton said. ‘She threw a boatload of strikes.’
Sanders was consistently ahead in the count and was able to keep the New Washington hitters off-balance with an effective change-up. The defense behind Sanders was equally impressive, making for a solid game all around.
‘When she got ahead, she could throw her change-up,’ Deaton said. ‘Kayla Lewis played shortstop because Megan was pitching, and she played an outstanding defensive game. One of our freshmen, Allison Mathis, handled everything at third that was hit to her. Our defense showed how we are capable of playing.’
Sanders struck out six and gave up three hits.
South Central got the offense going in the second inning with two outs. Carolyn Zipp led off the inning with a double but was followed by a pair of outs. With two down, Devin Steen-Roby reached on a bunt single. She was later followed by doubles from Tori Swank and Brittany Brown. The big hits led to a 3-0 Lady Rebel lead.
‘We struggled recently stringing together hits, but we did that today,’ Deaton said. ‘We had a lot of extra base hits. We were aggressive on the bases, which got us in trouble at times, but things like that happen.’
New Washington scored its first run of the game with a RBI double from Casey Johnson in the sixth inning. South Central held New Washington to one run in the inning.
South Central added to its lead in the bottom of the sixth. Steen-Roby and Erica Coulter reached on a walk and hit batter, respectively. Brown then lifted a fly ball to left field that was dropped, plating a pair of runs. Later in the inning, Brown crossed home plate on a wild pitch.
‘This was a total team effort,’ Deaton said. ‘I told the team that if they can’t have fun in a game like this, you don’t need to play softball. We had a number of girls step up in different positions.’
South Central also defeated Christian Academy Monday, 18-1. Coulter picked up the win in the circle.
South Central returns to action tomorrow (Thursday) to take on Crawford County at home at 5 p.m.
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