The pivotal at-bat in Tuesday’s District 5-A high school softball game at Warner Park was apparent. Down by a run in the top of the fifth inning, with Lexie Dean and Bethany Cowart on base after infield hits, Grace Academy had its dangerous No. 3 batter at the plate.
Lacye Walker proceeded to foul off pitcher’s pitch after pitcher’s pitch until she got one to her liking. Her triple then provided the lead for the Lady Golden Eagles, who defeated Arts & Sciences 7-2.
“She threw one outside,” Walker said. “She kept throwing inside; then she threw one outside.”
That’s how the right-handed-batting slugger rationalized her drive to the base of the right-field fence after she had just ripped a few fouls the other way. Tina Walker is Grace’s head coach and was standing closer to the Lady Patriots’ on-deck area than the third-base coach’s box when her daughter connected.
“If you throw Lacye inside and she hits it, it’s going to be foul,” Coach Walker said. “She threw a high, outside pitch and Lacye drove it exactly where she needed to drive it.”
Pitching around three errors and two walks, freshman right-hander Liana Rodrigues had held the Lady Golden Eagles without a run or hit through four innings. CSAS had given her a lead in the bottom of the fourth when Patricia Hakim walked and Chelsea Anderson doubled her in.
Grace (15-5, 8-0) broke it open in the sixth, highlighted by Bethany Cowart’s two-run single that Walker followed with an RBI double. All five runs scored after two were out.
CSAS (10-9, 3-4) got its other run in the bottom of the seventh on a walk to Kiara Suttles and a run-scoring double by Jamani Greer. Walker, who throws left-handed, ended up with a three-hitter with three walks and twelve strikeouts.
The Lady Golden Eagles have not yet clinched the No. 1 seeding for the district tournament. Silverdale Baptist’s only district loss was 2-1 at Grace last Thursday, and the teams play again next Tuesday.
The Lady Seahawks also have a game left with the Lady Patriots that was originally scheduled for Thursday but had to be moved to May 6. CSAS coach Michelle Meyners said her team hasn’t lost faith despite some tough losses in the league.
“We recently went nine innings — nine hard innings — with Silverdale,” Meyners said of a 9-6 loss. “It’s a new season once the tournaments start. I’ve got a group of girls that are going to be ready when the tournament rolls around.”
Coach Walker isn’t underestimating the Lady Patriots.
“They have a good pitcher,” she said. “They can hit. They can field the ball. They’ve made a few adjustments in the field and think that helped improve their defense. They’re going to be tough to beat come district-tournament time.”