In many instances, amassing 15 hits and scoring 15 runs means the team has a good chance at winning. But for Faith Christian School’s softball team, it wasn’t enough against a relentless offensive attack from Pungo Christian Academy.
The unbeaten Raiders (10-0), last year’s North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Division 1A state champions, produced 23 hits and scored a whopping 31 runs en route to a 31-15 nonconference victory over the Patriots on a cool and windy Friday night in Rocky Mount.
Faith Christian (7-3 overall) never led in the contest but kept battling. The Patriots were down 14-2 in the third inning and rallied to within five runs twice (17-12 and 20-15) before the Raiders scored 11 runs in the top of the seventh inning to remain perfect.
Pungo jumped out to a 3-0 lead with two doubles and two singles in the top of the first inning. Faith answered in the bottom of the first on a walk (Abby Vann), a sacrifice bunt (Kathryn Keeter), a single (Tynleigh Hinton) and a two-run double (Payton Whitley) to trim the deficit to 3-2.
That’s as close as the home team would get.
The Raiders sent 13 batters to the plate and scored eight runs in the top of the second to take an 11-2 advantage. Six of those runs came across with two outs as PCA took advantage of five walks with three hits and two errors.
A two-run home run by EllaKate Hanna in the top of the third made it 14-2, and FCS was in danger of being run-ruled. True to their nature, the Patriots never quit.
An RBI single from Hinton (plus an outfield error) followed an infield single from Keeter that made it 14-3. Whitley walked and Kate Camp was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs, but a strikeout and consecutive fielder’s choices ended the frame.
A two-run single from Joelie Pair made it 16-3 in the top of the fourth. The Patriots responded with five runs in their half of the frame as Keeter’s single brought in a run (Lizzie Camp), Hinton’s fielder’s choice plated Vann, Whitley added a single off the third base bag and Emma Kate Davis reached on a dropped fly ball to bring in Hinton. Consecutive walks to Abby Bradley and Peyton Hagans forced in Whitley.
The Patriots added four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on walks to Keeter and Whitley, Hinton’s RBI double, an RBI single by Kate Camp, an RBI single from Davis and an RBI sacrifice fly from Bradley to cut the deficit to 17-12.
Pungo tallied three runs in the top of the sixth to push its lead back to eight runs but Faith Christian put together a triple from Vann (who scored on a wild pitch), a two-out walk to Hinton and a two-run homer by Whitley to get within five runs again, 20-15. Kate Camp added a double, Davis walked and both up on a passed ball and wild pitch, but a groundout ended the frame without any further damage.
The Raiders, who have outscored foes 150-38 and had just two games with less than 10 runs, put the game away in the top of the seventh inning by sending 16 batters to the plate and collecting seven hits to go along with four walks and an error for their 11 runs. The biggest hit of the frame was a three-run homer from Melanie Rutledge.
Whitley, who is handling more of the pitching duties for FCS as regular starter Elizabeth Jackson is out with an injury, epitomized the gutsiness of the Patriots in the game. She was hit in the side by a line drive but stayed in the contest, and later, she dove off the mound and nearly came up with the catch on what was an infield single. She threw 201 pitches on the evening and finished with three hits at the plate.
Hinton also had three hits for Faith, while Kate Camp, Keeter and Vann added two hits each and Lizzie Camp, Hagans and Davis collected one hit each.
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