District tournament play continued this past week for the Avery 11 and 12 year old baseball and softball All-Star teams. Big offensive innings by the opposition led to the Avery baseball team’s elimination this past Saturday at the hands of the Wilkes (National) All-Stars. The softball team dropped its second tournament game last Thursday at home to Following a tough loss the previous Saturday in
Avery baseball had a hard time dealing with Wilkes National, specifically the pitching of starter Chandler Bare. The right-hander held Avery to just two hits over five innings of work. After the Avery club went down in order in the top of the first, the Wilkes club batted around and struck for four runs off Avery southpaw starter Gabe Stanley. A double from Wilkes first baseman Jacob McCoy highlighted the rally for Wilkes National.
Avery’s greatest scoring threat of the game came in the top of the second frame as leadoff hitter Brett Smith walked. A single by left fielder Will Jordan put a pair of Avery runners on base. Bare bore down to record back-to-back strikeouts to close the inning, however, keeping Avery scoreless.
Wilkes lengthened its lead in the bottom of the second inning. Alec Anderson led the inning off with a double and eventually scored on an RBI single by teammate Josh Hall. Wilkes scored three runs in total during the frame, forcing Avery head coach Sherrill Rominger to call on shortstop Brett Smith to come on in relief of
Staring at a large deficit, Avery was unable to forge a rally as Bare continued to dominate on the mound, striking out the Avery side in both the third and fourth innings. Wilkes plated a run in the third inning and added two more in the bottom of the fifth to force the umpires to call the game due to the ten-run mercy rule.
Last Thursday, July 8th, the Avery 11 and 12 softball team looked for its second straight win when it hosted
Starting pitcher Emily Brown and the Avery defense held Wilkes in check in the opening frame, retiring the side in order in the first inning. In the bottom half of the inning Jerrica Rieger reached base on an error with two outs, but was stranded at first to end the stanza scoreless.
Following a great first inning, the Avery defense struggled in the second inning to record outs. Multiple errors in the frame helped Wilkes to keep runners on base and extend the inning. Wilkes rapped three hits in the inning, but managed to plate 10 runs to take a commanding advantage.
On offense, Avery was retired in order in both the second and third innings, while Wilkes plated three additional runs in the top of the third to ultimately provide the final margin for the contest. When Avery was unable to score four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, the game was called due to the ten-run mercy rule.
Looking to bounce back from its last contest, Avery journeyed off the mountain to
Morganton put its leadoff hitter on with a walk in the top of the first inning and advanced the runner to as far as third base. Avery starting pitcher Emily Brown buckled down inside the circle, striking out the next three batters she faced to hold Morganton scoreless.
Avery opened the scoring in style with a first inning flurry. The Avery ladies sent 12 batters to the plate during the frame and plated eight runs to put a stranglehold on the contest.Errors by the Morganton defense, combined with both great patience at the plate and timely hits from the Avery batters contributed to the output. Charity Ollis and Emily Brown each ripped base hits in the stanza as Avery led 8-0 after one inning.
After helping her own cause at the plate, Brown continued to pitch and dominate. The hurler struck out a pair of hitters and retired Morganton in order in the second inning, while Avery scored a ninth run when Destiny Ollis led off the bottom of the second with a triple down the third base line and scored on a groundout from Charity Ollis.
The third inning began with a new pitcher for Avery, as Destiny Ollis came on in relief. Ollis retired the first two hitters she faced, but surrendered a walk and base hit to put a pair of runners on base. However, a line drive was caught by shortstop Kesha Garland to quell the threat and preserve the shutout.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Avery club continued its hit parade with another pair of runs to take an 11-0 lead. Kaitlyn Arbogast led the inning off with a base hit, and was driven home on an RBI triple from Jerrica Reiger. A strong and lengthy at-bat from Destiny Ollis resulted in a walk. Ollis stole second base and came around to score later in the stanza.
Facing elimination via the mercy rule Morganton refused to fold. The squad rallied to pick up three runs in the top of the fourth inning to cut the margin to 11-3. In the bottom of the fourth, Avery put the final proverbial nail in Morganton’s tournament coffin when Paige Moody and
The Avery staff was pleased with the overall team performance following the victory.
“Emily started off excellent pitching again for us as she has done throughout All-Stars, then putting the runs on the board in the first inning was a huge help,” Avery head coach Craig Reiger said after the win. “The team scored in every inning. You really have to give all the credit to the girls and how they played.”
The Avery club was patient at the plate throughout the win and took advantage of almost every opening the Morganton team offered to get the upper hand.
“We’ve been working a lot on being patient.
During the regular season we encourage the girls to swing a lot just to get them hitting the ball, sometimes at pitches that aren’t strikes. So we’ve worked on teaching the girls to be patient and wait for good pitches in the strike zone that they can hit,” Coach Reiger stated. “We had a couple of good at-bats from girls who fouled several balls off and eventually was able to get on base with a hit or a walk, which showed really good patience at the plate.”The win over Morganton set up a rematch this past Tuesday in Wilkesboro with the
“The girls showed that they still wanted to play ball and weren’t ready to give up for the summer,” Coach Reiger said. “I’m just really proud of the team.”
The team celebrated its victory in unorthodox fashion. Avery coach Kevin Brown promised the team he would allow the players to shave his head with a win, and following the triumph made good on his guarantee. Players lined up and were all smiles as they cut the coach’s locks and sheared the locks off his head.
Tuesday's matchup at
