East Surry jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one inning and defeated North Surry 12-0 in softball Friday night.

The Lady Cardinals had just five hits, but the Greyhounds struggled with walks and passed balls that allowed several runs to cross the plate.

A cold night with a biting wind may have contributed to the control problems. Hannah Fulk, who shut out North Wilkes in seven innings last Friday, had trouble in the first inning.

After getting a quick pop-up and ground-out, Fulk walked five batters, according to East Coach Derrick Hill. Three runs crossed on passed balls, one runner was walked in, and on a high chopper off the plate, the catcher made a throwing error to first.

Jessica Barker, a sophomore who also played basketball, pitched five innings for the Cards allowing just four hits and striking out five.

“North Surry put the ball in play most of the night,” said Hill. While he believes she can do better, Barker was able to keep batters off-balance well enough for a shutout.

“This is a good experience for her,” said Hill. With some important seniors graduating this year, she will have to bear a lot of the load next season, he said.

In the third inning, Kelsey Wilson doubled and came around to score after North walked five batters. Evelyn Wells cleared the bases with a double as the Cards put up six runs that inning.

Then in the top of the fifth, Barker helped her own cause with a solo shot, her first home run as a high school athlete.

In the bottom half, the Greyhounds got two hits, but couldn’t score.

With a 10-run lead, the game concluded early, which was fine for the Cardinals and many of the fans in attendance.

“By the time we finished it was extremely cold,” said Hill. He said he wished he didn’t have to have the girls out there in weather so cold, but two days of rain already caused a lot of schedule changes, like North having to postpone a game against Alleghany on Wednesday. Any further moves would have only complicated matters worse.

Hill said he was happy to pick up another conference win. “And we always want to perform well against our in-county rivals,” he said.

East Surry next plays at Glenn on Wednesday and then at home Friday against Mount Airy. North Surry hosts Surry Central next Tuesday and North Stokes on Friday.