MINT HILL, NC – The Independence lady’s softball team shut down the visiting Eagles from East Mecklenburg in a recent conference matchup. Indy’s Maliyah Alexander tossed a one hitter allowing a single by Zaniah Field in the fourth inning. She also allowed two runners to reach the bases giving up a base-on-balls to Kelsey Diggs. Alexander accumulated 9 strikeouts pitching 5 strong innings for the Patriots to earn the win.
Indy started the scoring in the second inning when Morgan Clark walked, she promptly stole second and third base. Clark eventually scored on a passed ball giving the Pats an early 1-0 lead.
In the third inning Natalie Johnson had a leadoff double, Terris Adkins put down a perfect bunt for a single moving Johnson to third base. Clark followed with an RBI single, then Sofia Tristan smacked a base hit driving in Clark who scored from second base to give the home team a 4-0 advantage.
The Patriots added 3 more runs in the fourth frame when Kimber Mulkey led off with a single, Sarah Johnson promptly deposited a line drive smash to deep left center field just one hop from the fence, she circled the bases for an inside the park home run sliding hard into home plate. Then power hitter Natalie Johnson hit a rocket to straight center field just to the right of the flagpole for a solo home run. Indy now had a commanding 7-0 edge over the Lady Eagles.
In the fifth inning Adkins ripped a triple to start the inning, with one out Alexander reached on an error scoring Adkins. Alexander moved to second on a passed ball, Seven Hope walked, Mulkey ripped a base hit that was not played cleanly by the outfielder driving in the final two runs to end the ballgame with Indy on top 10-0.
The Patriots racked up nine hits in the contest. Natalie Johnson went 3-3, and Mulkey had two timely base hits to lead the Patriots offense. The team was aggressive on the bases stealing seven bases, Clark had 3 stolen bases of her own.
The Eagles Geneva Gervais took the loss for East Mecklenburg. She pitched like a bulldog allowing 9 hits, 6 earned runs, while striking out 8 Patriots. The Eagles committed 4 errors that led to 4 unearned runs, while the Patriots played flawlessly on the field not committing any miscues.
