Softball Earns Four Victories at Liberty Softball Invitational

Freshman third baseman Mary Claire Wilson dashed toward first base as soon as the ball left her bat. The ball flew past the outfielder and Wilson continued running until she safely reached home.

 Wilson’s rare inside-the-park home run also allowed leftfielder Emily Sweat to score after she was walked on the previous at bat, and it increased the Lady Flames fourth inning lead to 3-0 against East Carolina. The Lady Flames won the game 3-2 Friday, the team’s first game in the Liberty Softball Invitational.

“I knew I hit it really well and I saw (the defender) dive, and as soon as I saw the ball get past her, I knew I was either going for three or home,” Wilson said about her home run. “I saw Coach just waving me home and I was really, really excited when I scored.”

Friday’s game was Wilson’s first back from a hamstring injury, which forced her to miss five games. The home run was also the first of her college career. 

In addition to her home run, Wilson also scored in the third inning after she hit a single and slowly worked  her way around the bases. Head Coach Dot Richardson was happy with Wilson’s performance. 

“(Wilson’s) got wheels (to) steal,” Richardson said. “You can do a lot of fun stuff with her. That’s why I have her in the seventh spot. She could obviously be a lead-off batter, number two in the line-up, anywhere in the line-up.”

The Lady Flames played well on defense as well, allowing the Pirates to register only six hits. Through the first four innings, the Pirates failed to ever send more than three hitters to the plate in an inning. Though East Carolina did register two hits and a walk, two double plays and a runner caught stealing negated any gain for the Pirates. 

The fifth inning proved to be tough for the Lady Flames. In the inning immediately following Wilson’s crucial home run, the Pirates returned with a vengeance. 

An early error by Wilson allowed first baseman Rachel McCollum to reach first base. A single by leftfielder Logyn Estes advanced McCollum to second base, where Gianna Edwards entered to pinch run for McCollum. 

The Pirates scored two batters later when a single by Keira Womack allowed Edwards to come home. Another two at bats later, a single by Emma Anthony provided the Pirates with another run.

The Lady Flames rallied, however, to garner two straight outs from foul ball catches and stranded runners on first, second and third base. Wilson caught the first foul ball, which Richardson considered a crucial turning point in the game. 

“You have to give (the Pirates) credit – and give credit to us that we stopped them with the bases loaded,” Richardson said. “That big foul hit, the lead-off batter just put her bat out there and Mary Claire went out and caught it by the coach’s box. That was a momentum changer with two outs that inning with bases loaded. It was huge.”

After the fifth inning, defenses from both sides stood strong as neither team scored again. The Lady Flames managed one hit in the sixth and the Pirates hit once in both the sixth and the seventh. 

The Lady Flames continued their success throughout the rest of the weekend, defeating Longwood 19-3 and East Carolina 7-6 Saturday, and shutting out Longwood 10-0 Sunday. The team’s record now stands at 14-5 for the season.

“The key is for us to always try to play our game,” Richardson said. “Try to be the best and better than we were the last time.”

The team will next compete against Longwood in a double-header March 9 before travelling to Oklahoma State for the Oklahoma City Tournament March 12-14.

Christian Shields is a Copy Editor. Follow his Facebook account here.