BRYSON CITY - The Lady Maroon Devils of Swain County High School lived up to its moniker of being one of the best teams in 1A softball Friday evening, upending the visiting Avery Lady Vikings by the final score of 24-1.
Avery advanced to the second round after their second straight win over conference rival Hendersonville, upsetting the Lady Bearcats 12-4 on the road Tuesday afternoon, while Swain County no-hit Andrews High on Tuesday afternoon at home.
On this evening, the Swain bats were too much for the Lady Vikings to handle. Junior starter Morgan Yackey pitched into the fourth inning and scored the lone Avery run after reaching on a bunt single and crossing the plate on a Kaylan Deese RBI triple. Avery led 1-0 after the top of the first, but Swain rallied to score three in the bottom of the frame to lead 3-1.
For the rest of the evening the Lady Vikings could not muster a hit off the Swain County starter who ended the night with a total of 15 strikeouts. Swain broke the game open in the third inning with a seven-run inning, taking advantage of a number of Big Red miscues and wild pitches/passed balls.
Leading 10-1 in the fourth, the Lady Devils plated 14 additional runs. With the game easily in hand, injury was added to insult to the Vikings when pitcher Morgan Yackey was hit in the arm by a screaming line drive. Yackey collapsed in obvious pain, but was eventually able to leave the diamond under her own power as she was taken to a local hospital for medical treatment.
Avery ends its season with a playoff victory and six wins overall. Only two seniors graduate from this season's squad, leaving high hopes that the Big Red can rebound with another great season next year.
