The Avery Lady Vikings put together its most impressive performance of the season in a six-inning, 11-1 shellacking of the Thomas Jefferson Gryphons on Thursday evening at Avery High School.Avery gave up a single run in the top of the first frame, but quickly bounced back in the bottom of the inning to bat around the order and score seven runs. Leadoff hitter Kaylea Davis, as well as Becca Biggerstaff, Amber Clark, and Justina Rieger each rapped base hits for the Big Red.
Brooke Buchanan plated a pair with a double in the inning, followed up with base hits from Sarah Dewitt, Beth Lewis, and Michelle Cuthbertson. Biggerstaff registered a second base hit in the inning as Avery took an early commanding lead.
From that point, the Lady Vikings starting battery of pitcher Becca Biggerstaff and catcher Haley Hicks found their groove. The pitch/catch combo worked like a well-oiled machine as Biggerstaff struck out five TJCA hitters and surrendered one hit in holding Gryphons scoreless over the next five innings.
Biggerstaff's pitching received plenty of help from the Avery defense who played error-free softball, turned a double play during the game, and gave no help to the overmatched Gryphon club.
"Becca pitched amazing today. There were a couple of innings where she was just lights out. She's pitched well all season, but this was probably her best game of the season," Avery softball head coach Stephen Bunger said after the win. "We played great defense and turned our first double play of the season. I was really happy with the defensive performance."
Avery continued scoring in the bottom of the second inning when Hicks led off with a base hit, followed by hits from Buchanan and Dewitt. Hicks and Buchanan each scored to stake Avery to a 9-1 edge.
Biggerstaff plated a run following a leadoff triple in the third inning to push the Lady Vikings ahead 10-1, and Buchanan scored a third run in the contest to bring the game to a close due to the ten-run mercy rule.
The Avery pitcher helped her own cause with four base hits and scored a pair of runs. Teammate Brooke Buchanan had a pair of hits and scored three times. Every Lady Viking had at least one base hit, and eight of the nine starters scored at least one run apiece in the rout.
"I think the Cloudland game gave us some confidence. Even though we didn't win that game we started hitting the ball, which I feel carried over into this game," Lady Vikings softball head coach Stephen Bunger said following the win. "We went up there swinging today, and it was one of those days where it seems like every hit found an open spot."
The performance proved that the Avery Lady Vikings are a potential force to contend with for the remainder of the season as the squad makes a frantic push for a berth in this year's state softball playoffs.
"I think we're starting to come together and improve a lot. We're hitting the ball well now and doing good things on the bases. I think we're putting together a good run of things, and we're gonna keep working hard and keep trying to win some games," Coach Bunger said. "We've gotten unlucky on some things through the season, but this should give us confidence as we go into our next few games."
The following afternoon Avery played host to the Hendersonville Lady Bearcats. The Lady Vikings were shut out in its previous meeting, but were determined to make a game of it in this rematch.
Hendersonville gained control early, putting the ball in play and taking advantage of some Avery defensive gaffes to score five runs in the top of the first inning. Avery looked to answer but leadoff hitter Kaylea Davis was stranded at third base as the Bearcats maintained a 5-0 edge.
In the second frame the Lady Bearcats picked up a run to lead 6-0, but the Lady Vikings offense rallied to score a pair of runs in the bottom half to cut the lead to four at 6-2. Jessica Banner led the inning off with a base hit, and catcher Haley Hicks drew a walk. Both hitters came around to score in the inning as Avery looked to scrap back into the contest.
Both squads plated a run each in the third inning, then Hendersonville scored a pair in the top of the fourth to take a 9-3 advantage. The Bearcats added four runs in the top of the fifth to build a ten-run margin and threaten to finish the game by the mercy rule. Avery got up off the deck, however, with a strong scoring effort in the bottom of the fifth. Eight batters came to the plate in the frame, with Davis, Becca Biggerstaff, and Justina Rieger scoring runs as part of a four-run outburst which cut the deficit to 13-7 going to the sixth inning.
Unfortunately for the Big Red, Hendersonville responded to the Avery rally by sending ten batters to the dish in the top of the sixth. The Lady Bearcats scored six runs to take a 19-7 lead, and held Avery scoreless in the bottom of the inning to end the game via the ten-run mercy rule after six innings.
“I was pleased with how we hit the ball at times. We just made too many mental and physical errors to win the game,” Lady Vikings head coach Stephen Bunger said after the game. “We hope we can build some momentum off of how we’ve been hitting the ball, and hopefully we can work on improving our fielding and tightening up our defense to give us a better chance to win.”
On Monday evening the Lady Vikings traveled to Marshall to take on the Madison Lady Patriots. Madison defended its home turf with authority as the Avery club fell 20-4 in varsity action.
Avery started well on the raw and windy day for softball, giving up only a single run in the first inning. Following a scoreless second frame, Avery heated up for a pair of runs to take a 2-1 advantage. Beth Lewis led off with a walk and scored after a series of passed balls from the Madison catcher. Shelby McKinney, the second batter in the inning, repeated the process, scoring on a passed ball herself.
After gaining the lead, the Lady Vikings’ good fortune subsided. Madison, motivated from having lost the lead, exploded for 16 runs in the bottom of the third inning. The Lady Patriots were helped by a number of Avery walks and passed balls to lead 17-2 by inning’s end. The wet weather proved bothersome for Avery starter Becca Biggerstaff, who had difficulty with grip because of the moisture and with accuracy through the rain.
“We played solid defensively for the most part,” Coach Stephen Bunger said after the game. “We just gave up too many walks and let the ball get by a few too many times.”
The Lady Vikings were held scoreless in the fourth and the Lady Patriots added their final three runs for the game in the bottom half of the inning to lead 20-2
Avery refused to quit, picking up two runs in the fifth. Justina Rieger walked to get on base and promptly stole second and third bases, and scored on an errant throw to third base. Jessica Banner then singled to right and went to second on the throw. Haley Hicks sacrifice bunted to move the runner to third and Banner eventually scored the game’s final run on a passed ball.
“We didn't hit as well as we have been hitting, but we threatened with runners on base and did some good things on the bases that led to some runs,” Coach Bunger stated. “Overall, I was pleased with the performance, we just need to continue to work on avoiding that one big inning.”
In the junior varsity contest, Paige Henderson got the start on the mound and pitched a complete game, but the Lady Vikings suffered a 33-1 loss.
“We struggled to find the strike zone which led to too many runners on base. Madison had some girls who could really hit well and they drove in quite a few runs,” Bunger said of the contest. “The girls struggled at the plate and we couldn't find any offensive rhythm, scattering hits between outs and not doing much with runners on base. Overall it wasn't the best of days for us, but we are going to continue to work hard on improving ourselves.”
Avery plays Polk County Thursday afternoon and will host Madison for a rematch this Friday afternoon.
