The Mint Hill Athletic Association hosted two girls youth softball championship games at our local Sports Complex on Brief Road recently.

The Mint Hill Rage squared off with the Steel Creek Vipers in the first game.  The Rage won 5-3 and were able to make consistent contact forcing the Vipers to complete plays on the field.  This strategy paid off for the home team which kept the pressure on their opponent.

Starting pitcher Ava McCauley went three innings without allowing a run and striking out 6 Vipers.  She struck out the first three batters she faced in the 1st inning.

Gracyn Hawk who is the Rage catcher went 2-2 with a double and triple with 2 RBI’s.  She also gunned down two base runners trying to steal third base.  Bristol Outen was 2-2 with a double and 2 RBI’s, while closing the game for the save.  Kayla Barlow was 1-2, however, she had the game winning hit when she slammed a triple with the bases loaded to give the Rage the lead and victory.

In the nightcap the Mint Hill 13 year old team suffered a close loss to MARA from Matthews with a 5-3 defeat.  MARA scored first in the opening frame for a 1-0 lead.  However, Mint Hill tied the game 1-1 in the bottom frame.

Mint Hill pitcher Kendall Knight pitched a solid game for the home team.  After three innings of play the game was tied at 3-3.  Mint Hill had a great opportunity in the fifth inning to break open the ball game.  However, with runners on second and third base with only one out they were unable to score stranding the base runners.

In the top of the sixth as we approached a night time curfew MARA was able to break through the deadlock with 2 runs on two hits, one walk and three errors on the field to take a 5-3 advantage.  In the bottom half of the sixth the home team had runners on first and second with two outs and was unable to capitalize to end the game.

The two teams were scheduled to meet again for the title on Tuesday night to declare the champion.