East 1A softball regionals: Rebels' Pate no-hits Northside

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 28, 2015 1:46 PM

• Print
• Email

rcoggins@newsargus.com

PINETOWN -- North Duplin's Rylee Pate stepped to the back of the circle, picked up the rosin bag and bounced it in her right hand, dropped it and walked toward the mound.

She slapped the ball in her glove.

These were THE three outs she wanted.

A sophomore with ice water running through her veins, Pate never flinched against Northside's big three -- Kelsey Lang, Kendall Alligood and Rachel Lang. She relished the challenge and turned it into a memorable moment.

Pate retired all three hitters in decisive fashion and polished off a 3-0, no-hitter in Game 1 of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A eastern regional softball championship series Wednesday evening.

Game 2 is Friday in Calypso. First pitch is 7 p.m.

A right-hander, Pate (13-2) pulled the plug on a juggernaut offense that batted .398 as a team and had stolen 57 bases on the season. The top-seeded Panthers (24-1 overall) put three runners aboard in the first inning, but soon blew their offensive fuse.

No batter reached safely over the final six innings.

In fact, not a single ball left the infield.

Working the corners and at times having to throw a strike through a knothole, Pate kept Northside's hitters guessing at the plate. She threw just two change-ups -- which led to strikeouts -- the entire night and logged nine Ks overall inside the circle.

The Panthers grounded out on eight occasions and hit three infield fly balls -- one to McCarty and two to second baseman Anna Thornton.

"She just throws really good, hits her spots," said North Duplin catcher Mikayla Koch, who picked up on the Panthers' hitting tendencies and relayed it to the coaching staff.

"Her speed ... she throws it pretty hard, so most teams haven't seen that and (the ball) moves really well for her."

The 11th-seeded Rebels (17-3-1) caught an early break and seized a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. Pate singled to left field and scored when Shaily McCarty reached on a three-base throwing error.

Haley Brogden plated McCarty with a single down the third-base line.

"We didn't feel like we were the underdog even though our (overall) record was a little bit lower than theirs," said Pate, who threw 100 pitches and posted the team's fourth shutout of the postseason. "But we still felt very confident. When we scored, it let us know 'hey, we can hang with this team'."

Northside threatened in its half of the first.

Pate issued back-to-back walks to Swain and Kelsey Lang. With two outs, Rachel Lang hit a grounder to McCarty a shortstop. Quortasia Clark, Lang's courtesy runner, ran into McCarty as she attempted to field the ball and was ruled out for runner's interference.

"That was very big," Pate said of the inning-ending play.

Rachel, who replaced Kelsey in the circle with one out in the first, held North Duplin scoreless through a five-inning stretch. Pate matched her pitch for pitch and reached a full count on just two batters. Lead-off hitter Alex Adams fouled off five consecutive pitches before striking out.

North Duplin added an insurance run in the seventh when Courtney Brock slapped a two-out double into the left center-field gap. Koch drove her in a with a double down the left-field line.

The Rebels scratched out six hits on the night.

"We knew if it was an inside ball, we had to step out and hit it," said Brock. "I had been fouling the ball off every time I had been up to bat and finally my dad said you have to hit the ball and I said 'yes, sir.'

"I got up there and hit it."

The three-run cushion was more than enough for Pate.

But wanted those final three outs -- Alligood and the Langs, who had combined for 60-plus RBI and were eager to break up the no-hitter. Pate fanned Alligood between two groundouts to preserve her near-perfect outing.

"I love facing big batters during big-game situations and shut them down," said Pate, who faced just three batters over the minimum for a seven-inning game. "I moved the ball really well in and out, threw a few pitches (rise balls) high and just kept them off balance."