Eastern Wayne-North Lenoir softball

By Staff Reports
Published in Sports on May 10, 2011 1:47 PM

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North Lenoir pushed across five, fourth-inning runs and escaped Eastern Wayne, 5-4, in quarterfinal-round play of the 2011 Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference softball tournament Monday evening.

The fifth-seeded Hawks (9-9 overall) continue play today at defending tournament champion South Johnston. First pitch is 6 p.m. in Four Oaks.

North Lenoir capitalized on three Eastern Wayne errors and delivered some timely hits during its five-run outburst.

"They played small ball and we just didn't make the plays," said Eastern Wayne head coach Tony Parrish. "We just didn't play our best defensive game."

The fourth-seeded Warriors (8-14) battled back with four runs of their own and had a runner thrown out trying to advance on a passed ball.

Hannah Grantham supplied two hits and two RBI for Eastern Wayne. Carissa Turner contributed a double and two sacrifice bunts. Jessica Ream (RBI) and Morgan Smith both had a hit.

"I'm proud of our kids for fighting back," said Parrish. "We had a runner thrown out trying to advance but I'm not going to fault a player for trying to be aggressive."

Starla Strickland endured the loss in the pitcher's circle for the Warriors. The right-hander yielded five runs (one earned) on nine hits.

Blythe Greene and Megan Brock (RBI) paced North Lenoir's offense with two hits apiece. Liz Deal (two RBI) and Tori Howard (RBI) each added a hit.

Hawks right-hander Nicole Robinson threw a complete-game four-hitter. She struck out three and walked one.