Avery Softball and Baseball Travel to Madison

On Friday afternoon the Avery softball and baseball squads trekked to Marshall for conference contests against the Madison Patriots.

In the softball contest, the Lady Vikings hoped to bounce back from a 13-0 loss at Polk County. Unfortunately the Big Red ran into the freight train of Madison junior pitcher Laurel Gregg. The junior right-hander is among the state leaders in ERA and strikeouts, and has thrown five no-hitters and eight shutouts this season.

Gregg struck out 15 Avery batters en route to an 11-0 Madison victory. The hurler allowed only one base runner, as Samantha Shook reached on a passed ball from a dropped third strike. Tiffani Taffer led Madison (11-1, 5-1) at the plate by going 2 for 3 with a double and a triple. Kaitlyn Huff went 2 for 3 with a run.

In baseball action, Coach Benny Wellborn's Avery Vikings looked poised for a victory Friday as Avery grabbed an early 4-0 lead behind timely hitting the pitching of southpaw starter Chris Childress, and led 6-2 as late as the bottom of the third frame. Errors and mental mistakes reared their ugly heads in the third frame. Avery was also the victim of a questionable safe ruling on an apparent tag by pitcher Chris Childress of a Madison runner. The play allowed Madison to come back to take a 7-6 advantage after four innings.

As the clouds thickened and darkened overhead, the rain began to fell in earnest. Before the worst of the rain, the Patriots picked up a pair of insurance runs to lead 9-6 going into the top of the sixth inning.

Facing the prospect of a second loss for the week, the Vikings reached down deep to ignore the elements and battle back. Pedro Benavides drew a walk and stole second base, and Seth Phillips followed with a walk to put a pair of runners on. Junior catcher Zac Hall came to the plate and 'Man-Bear', as his teammates refer to him, came through in the clutch in the largest of fashions, walloping a mammoth three-run home run over the left field wall to tie the game.

The Vikings were retired to end the half inning, but faced a different dilemma. The team had to complete the Madison half of the sixth inning before play was halted by umpires due to rain or, according to the umps, the score would revert to the previous inning (where Madison led 9-6). Avery reliever Sutton Stanley retired the first two batters, allowed two Patriots to get on base, but battled back to induce a third out to close the frame.

Umpires called a stoppage of play and deemed the contest a suspended game, meaning the teams must resume the game at a later date with the same score and statistics as when the game was halted. As of Friday evening, the Vikings appear headed back to Madison on Monday afternoon to resume the 9-9 ballgame.

MONDAY UPDATE: The Vikings returned to Marshall on Monday afternoon to resume the game suspended by rain last Friday. Seth Phillips went to the mound in relief of Sutton Stanley for the contest. Neither team could score in the seventh inning as action resumed, forcing the game into 'extra innings'.

In the top of the eighth, the Vikings batted around and scored six runs to take a 15-9 lead, with Phillips closing the door in the bottom of the frame to give the Big Red a win to finish a game that took three days to complete.

"Everybody hit the ball. We just started hitting the ball, hitting line drives and put the ball into play over their head basically," Coach Benny Wellborn said after the win. "They hit a couple of hard balls, but we were able to hold them, which was the important thing."

The win was particularly sweet since the Vikings had to give up a day of practice for Tuesday's matchup with Mountain Heritage in order to travel to Marshall to complete Friday's game. "I tried to use the trip as motivation to prepare the team. None of us were thrilled over having to make another trip down there and lose a day of practice. We wanted to finish it early and we did so," the coach added.

Due to Monday's finish, Avery was forced to cancel Thursday's contest at McDowell because a team cannot play more than three opponents in a week. Avery already has the Heritage contest as well as a home game on Friday with North Wilkes.

Avery Soccer Shuts Out Mountain Heritage, Plays Polk to Scoreless Tie

Avery concluded its three-game soccer week with a 3-0 victory over Mountain Heritage at home on Wednesday night and played Polk County to a 0-0 tie in a game called in overtime due to lightning.

In Wednesday's match Avery scored first only four minutes into the match as Melinda Eggers assisted on a goal scored by Katie Peters. The Lady Vikings struck again in the 31st minute off a corner kick by Mary Chesnut Smith. Kaley Faulkner controlled the loose ball in front of goal and fired a shot past the Heritage keeper for a 2-0 advantage, which held until intermission.

The contest was a physical match as there was a fair amount of pushing, holding, and tugging. Peters scored her second goal in the game in the final two minutes of the second half, this one off a through pass by Emily Banner to provide the final margin.

The win improved Avery to 9-2-1, the second best start to a season in program history. "We knew tonight would be as rough and challenging a game as Monday was. Madison had tied Heritage, so we knew this wasn't going to be an easy game. Plus three of our starters missed Tuesday's practice with sickness, but still came out to play today," Coach Tom Evaul said after the match. "We're really proud of the team tonight, especially our five defenders. They have a pretty good offensive attack, but our defense did a good job of collapsing and controlling the ability of their offense to advance."

On Friday evening the #8 ranked Vikings played host to the #4 ranked Polk Lady Wolverines to a scoreless tie on a cloudy and rainy pitch at MacDonald Stadium. The match was a rough and tumble affair with few whistles coming from the officials in relation to the physicality of the game. Neither team cracked the scoreboard in the first 40 minutes of play. Avery came out more aggressively on the attack in the second half of play as the team continued to gain confidence against a club who they have yet to defeat in 1A play.

Weather played a role through the course of the match as the rain fell at the match's outset, then tapered off as the match ensued. Following regulation and half of the overtime session, lightning was sighted in the distance, prompting officials to call a halt to the contest with the score tied.

Avery is 9-2-2 on the season (4-1-1 in conference play) and plays three home games this week against Madison (Monday), Owen (Wednesday), and Erwin (Thursday @ the changed time of 5 p.m.).

Ashe/Avery Baseball Game postponed

This afternoon's scheduled baseball game in Newland between Avery and Ashe County has been postponed due to rain. When we get word of rescheduled make-up date, it will be posted.

Errors Sink Vikings Ship on the Baseball Diamond against Polk

In a rematch of a game just 7 days earlier, the Avery Vikings played host to the Polk County Wolverines. Avery grabbed an advantage early in the game, but costly mistakes proved the difference as Polk took a 13-8 victory.

The Wolverines drew first blood when a passed ball allowed a runner from third to scamper home with the game's opening run. Avery rallied back quickly, however, as a towering two-run home run by senior pitcher Seth Phillips off Wolverines starter Brandon Jolley highlighted a four-run frame for the Big Red, staking the Vikings to a 4-1 edge after one inning.

Avery maintained its lead until the top of the third inning, where a one-out, three run home run by catcher Nick Jolley spearheaded a four-run Polk rally, helping the Wolverines regain the lead at 5-4. Following a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half of the frame, Polk added three runs on only one hit as a pair of Avery errors allowed the Wolverines to build an 8-4 margin.

Avery got a run back in the bottom half of the inning as second baseman Pedro Benavides singled and eventually came around to score on a Chris Childress RBI single. Polk negated the Avery run in the next half inning as a solo home run to right centerfield by second baseman J.P. Ruth off starter Seth Phillips made the score 9-5.

Over the next two innings, leadoff hitters got on base for the Vikings, but Avery could not bring any runners around to cross home.

Polk added a tenth run in the top of the sixth inning off Vikings reliever Chris Childress to lead 10-5, then tacked on three additional runs of insurance in the seventh to take a 13-5 edge. Childress struck out five Wolverines over his two innings of work, but also surrendered four walks and hit a batter.

In the bottom of the seventh and final frame, Avery rallied to score three runs off Polk reliever Nick Jolley, as pinch hitters Jack Buchanan and Luke Pittman each reached base, followed by a three-run home run down the right field line by Brooks Oakley. Unfortunately, the comeback bid ended as Jolley retired the next three hitters in order to close the contest.

"We made some errors, but we were able to take advantage of some of their early errors and score a few runs. The biggest thing for us right now is that we had a mental letdown out there tonight," Avery head coach Benny Wellborn said after the game. "We had bases loaded once and had runners trying to run when they shouldn't have, but that wasn't the only thing. We had some mental breakdowns all around and we have to do a better job with that."

Avery starter Seth Phillips threw 110 pitches over five innings, struck out seven hitters while surrendering only six hits. Avery has a home game scheduled on Thursday with Ashe County, but rain in the forecast may force change. The Vikings will travel to Marshall on Friday for a conference game against Madison.

Fierce Second Half Sparks Lady Vikings to 3-1 Win at Madison

The Avery Lady Vikings ran their record to 8-2-1 and proved why they are worthy of the #8 ranking in the latest 1A state poll in defeating the Madison Lady Patriots 3-1 in Marshall Monday night.

In the opening 40 minutes the Avery squad battled a drizzling rain and cool temperatures at O.E. Roberts Stadium, as well as a determined Lady Patriots team hungry for its first win of the year.

A handball called inside the penalty box area resulted in the only tally of the opening half, as Madison's Michelle LaFountain scored on the kick in the upper right corner of the goal in the 32nd minute, giving the Lady Patriots the lead at intermission.

A lackluster first half of play for the Big Red made a 180-degree turn in the second half, as the Lady Vikings played one of its strongest halves of soccer in the season thus far. Avery scored the equalizer just 35 seconds into the half as Katie Peters took a picture perfect through pass and blazed a shot past the Madison goalkeeper to knot the score at one apiece.

Avery took the lead at the 52 minute mark as Elyse Perry continued her offensive surge with a goal, chipping a shot just over the head and outstretched arms of the Madison goalie. The shot squeezed just under the crossbar on the left side to put the Vikings up 2-1.

As the half continued, the Lady Vikings found themselves with a number of additional opportunities to score, but were unable to add an all-important insurance goal. Avery was finally able to score for a third time in the half at 69:00 as a solid header from 10 yards out by Katie Peters off a Perry assist sailed over the top of the keeper and nestled its way into the back of the net for the 3-1 advantage. The senior scored two goals in the contest and performed admirably despite suffering throughout the day from flu-like symptoms.

At the 77 minute mark, Madison benefitted from a questionable takedown call inside the penalty box, affording the Lady Patriots a second penalty shot in the game. This time, however, Avery keeper Cailan Calloway was equal to the task, extending left to successfully turn away the Madison shot attempt. The Vikings keeper was strong in goal, continuing her stretch of solid play in net as Calloway has surrendered only one goal (the first half penalty goal) over the past four contests.

"Last year in a game like tonight, Coach Lou and I would have been screaming and yelling at halftime. But we were able to keep our composure tonight and the girls kept theirs as well," head coach Tom Evaul said after the win. "We told the girls the ball didn't bounce our ways and that they needed to stay calm and cool. In the second half the ball bounced our way. We told the girls if we scored early we would win this game, and Katie came out in the first 30 seconds and did just that. Their keeper didn't move as we caught them off guard quickly, which pushed some wind out of their sails and into ours."

Avery plays a pair of additional home matches this week, a game Wednesday against Mountain Heritage, and a duel of top-10 ranked 1A teams as Polk County comes to town on Friday evening, a change from the original schedule.

Come out and support this talented group of young ladies and watch some exciting soccer action!