Lady Eagles top Village Christian

By Steve Roush
Published in Sports on April 30, 2006 2:18 AM

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Traci Davis went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI, plus struck out nine on the mound as No. 2 state-ranked Wayne Christian upended No. 5-ranked Village Christian 4-2 in Friday's regular season finale.

The Lady Eagles (15-1, 5-1 Carolina Christian 1-A Conference) will now open the postseason at home Tuesday with a 4 p.m. game against Norlina in Round 1 of the conference tournament.

The Lady Knights fell to 11-4 overall and 4-2 in the CCC with the loss.

"This win was a big plus for us as far as expectations," Wayne Christian coach Roger Longwell said. "We've beaten some good teams this season and I think we have a lot of confidence right now."

Davis, the team's ace pitcher, threw seven strong inning and allowed just four hits (three infield singles) and two walks.

"She threw her game," he said. "She looked good out there and only one hit got through the infield."

Wayne Christian broke open a scoreless game in the home half of the fourth as the Eagles scored three times. Davis led off with a double and scored when Brittany Sullivan singled. Charity Wright and Danielle Pender also had RBI singles in the inning as WCS took a 3-0 lead.

The Lady Knights bounced back with a pair of runs in the fifth, but the Eagles got one of those run back in the bottom of the inning when Davis had an RBI single that scored Reagan Hinton, who had a one-out triple.

Village had runners on second and third with out one in the seventh, but the game ended when both runners ended up getting in a pickle between third and home in a dramatic finish. Sullivan, the catcher, got the first runner in a pickle when the ball squirted away from her, made the tag at the plate, then fired the ball to third to catch the other baserunner straying too far from the bag.

"What an incredible finish," Longwell said. "I've never seen anything like that before."

If Wayne Christian wins Tuesday's CCC tournament opener, the Lady Eagles will advance to the semifinals, which will be played on Thursday in Wilson.