Lady Raiders swing into third round

The Midway Lady Raiders powered their way into the third round of the NCHSAA 2A State Softball playoffs, surging past Nash Central on Friday night with a 10-0 win in five innings.

The Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Raiders met up in last year’s playoffs as well, albeit a little further down the road. Both games unfolded in similar fashion - a 10-run mercy rule victory that went in Midway’s favor.

For the 2024 edition, Nash Central presented as one of the better opponents the Lady Raiders have seen in a while. Defensively they were sound, making easy routine plays early. The Lady Bulldogs kept things respectable to start out the game, keeping the game scoreless after one inning.

Midway broke through in the bottom of the second inning, though, grinding out one run on a little 2-out rally. Jordan Christopher got on base on a single on a line drive into center field. A passed ball moved her over to second base and Sarah Autry singled into right field to score Christopher for the 1-0 lead.

Kyleigh Stonerock added to the lead in the bottom of the third inning, hitting 1-out solo homerun over the left field fence to make it 2-0. But the Lady Raiders didn’t stop there. Eva McLamb singled and McKenzie Williams doubled, putting both runners in scoring position still with one out. A single by Mollie Bass scored McLamb and a Peyton Herring sacrifice into right field scored Williams, helping the tally reach 4-0.

Then in the bottom of the fourth, Midway really went to work. Singles by Autry and Tamia Gwynn and an error for Kiley Ives loaded up the bases for the Lady Raiders. Stonerock drew a walk to score Autry before Gwynn tagged up on a sacrifice fly ball into left field. Williams flew out into center field, quickly putting Midway at two outs with the 6-0 score. The Lady Raiders were far from done, though, as a rally was brewing. Bass delivered a 2-run single into left field to score Ives and Stonerock. Then, a Herring triple scored Bass, making it 9-0. Christopher delivered a line drive that yielded an error, allowing Herring to score and make it 10-0. The inning ended on a ground ball and the game moved into the fifth inning where it was do or die for Nash Central.

With their season on the line, Lady Bulldogs went three up, three down and Midway was moving on with the 10-0 victory.

Leading the box score for the Lady Raiders were Williams, Bass, and Autry all with two hits. Gwynn, Ives, Stonerock, McLamb, Herring, and Christopher all had one hit each for a team total of 12 hits.

Autry also got the win on the mound for Midway, getting five strikeouts against one hit and two walks in five innings.

Next up for the Lady Raiders was a rematch against South Lenoir, a team that defeated Midway in the regular season. That game was originally scheduled for Tuesday night however the threat of inclement weather moved it to Monday. A full rundown from that game will be featured in Wednesday’s edition.