Vasquez, Bulldogs slug past Red Devils

RED SPRINGS — When talking about a pitcher’s riseball, it’s usually referencing a frequently-thrown pitch from the circle. Wednesday, it could’ve been talking about a ball St. Pauls’ Yomaris Vasquez hit at the plate.

Vasquez hit a line drive that seemingly kept rising as it cleared the center-field wall in the second inning, a three-run home run that was part of a big offensive night for both Vasquez and the Bulldogs in a 20-7, five-inning win at Red Springs.

“I’ve been struggling the past few years batting; I lost my confidence, had to gain it back. It’s been working this year,” said Vasquez, who hit her second home run of the season. “(That was) really big, glad to help my team out.”

St. Pauls (15-4, 7-0 Southeastern Athletic Conference) scored three runs or more in every inning, with the most coming in a six-run third.

“That was the key, putting the bat on the ball. I thought we had a letdown on defense,” St. Pauls coach Phillip Tyler said. “Mia … her pitching wasn’t the best tonight, but you’re not going to be at your best every night anyway. And then we didn’t play defense good enough behind her like we normally do. But we did put the bat on the ball.”

After a three-run first that included RBI hits from Madison Locklear and Aniyah Locklear, St. Pauls scored four more in the second, including Vasquez’ three-run four-bagger, to take a 7-0 lead.

Vasquez finished the night with two hits, also including a double, and had three runs and four RBIs.

“She was down a little bit because she’d been struggling,” Tyler said. “She hit the ball good last night, but then before that she’d been struggling a little bit, and that’s why I’d moved her down in the lineup. Then she started — she was 3-for-3 last night. … Then tonight she hit the ball pretty (good).”

Two of Madison Locklear’s four RBIs came on a third-inning sacrifice fly; Aniyah Locklear had an RBI single in the frame and three runs came home on Red Springs (3-10, 0-6 Southeastern) errors, adding up to a six-run inning and a 13-1 St. Pauls lead.

“I think (the offense) is big for us, especially since we’ve been down a lot, helping each other with our confidence and stuff,” Vasquez said.

St. Pauls continued witha four-run fourth, including RBI hits from Ke’Mya Baldwin, Vasquez and Kayla Williams, and scored three in the fifth, with an RBI double by Madison Locklear and two runs scoring on wild pitches.

Hailey Ray had a four-hit night in the leadoff spot for St. Pauls, including two triples, and scored five runs.

“Hailey’s been in a slump. She’s been dipping a lot; we put her on the tee so she’d get her swing back right, and she hit the ball pretty good tonight,” Tyler said. “You want her there so that way she can get on and then get the other ones to move her around and stuff. She’s like a spark plug for us, a little go-getter.”

Madison Locklear finished with three hits, three runs and four RBIs for St. Pauls; Aniyah Locklear and Kayla Williams each had two hits and two RBIs, with Locklear scoring twice and Williams once. Roni Hightower also scored three times; Baldwin had a hit, an RBI and a run and Taylor White had a hit and a run.

Red Springs’ seven-run offensive output was its most in six conference games. One highlight of that production was a second-inning solo home run by Emily Brooks.

“We had a kid hit a home run, first home run of her career as a sophomore, so that’s a good start for her. Hopefully she can get some more in the future,” Red Springs coach Chelsi Oxendine said. “I just wish there were some people on the bag when she hit it.”

The Red Devils scored four more in the third inning, cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to 13-5 at the time; one run came home on an error before a two-RBI triple by Nikki Locklear and an RBI groundout by Brooks.

Leeyah Hammonds drove in a run with a fifth-inning double and later scored on an error.

“Pretty much, they started putting the bat on the ball; it was just a little too late,” Oxendine said. “Some errors cost them, the runs that got against them for the most part. … Offensively, that’s some of the best we’ve played.”

Ava Goins doubled twice and scored twice for the Red Devils and Hammonds also had two hits and two runs with an RBI. Nikki Locklear and Brooks each finished with one hit and two RBIs and Gabby Locklear and Makayla Hunt also recorded hits.

St. Pauls travels to Clinton on Friday before a two-game series next week against Midway, beginning Tuesday in Newton Grove, with the Southeastern title on the line. Red Springs plays Friday at Midway before finishing the regular season with another three-game week next week beginning Monday at home against Clinton.