The Lady Eagles scored first and shut down a late rally to defeat West Forsyth 6-2 in a game that didn’t finish until after 9:30 p.m.
Brittany Myers and Jennifer Coe hit back-to-back homers in a three-run fifth inning that gave pitcher Chelsea Craddock some breathing room.
The Eagles drew first blood in the second inning as Coe doubled and scored on a single by Meagan Hutson. Central sacrificed Hutson to second, then she advanced to third on a ground ball.
Hutson later scored when Craddock hit a ground ball that could have been a fielder’s choice, but all the runners were safe for a 2-0 lead.
Craddock shut out the Wolverines for the first three innings, then gave up one run in the fourth where she also took a line drive to the shin bone. Coach Glenn Craddock, also her father, said the pitcher had a “pretty good-sized knot” on her leg, but pitched all seven innings.
The run cut the lead to 2-1, but the Eagles came back in their next at-bat. With two outs, Cassidy Joyner got on with a hit before Myers went deep. Coe followed with her own homer to take back the momentum with a 5-1 lead.
The visitors tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh to make it 6-1.
The Eagles made four errors in the game, and two of those came during a perilous last stand in the bottom of the seventh.
The Wolverines led off with a triple and then drove her in for a 6-2 game. Back-to-back errors loaded the bases with nobody out and the tying run at the plate.
The batter hit a ball toward the hole at second, but the ball bounced up and hit the baserunner. By rule, the runner was out, and other runners could not advance, so the runner who thought she scored had to go back to third.
With one out, the next batter hit a shot to third that Jordan Wood caught, stepped on the bag and threw to first for a game-ending double play.
After those errors put the game in jeopardy, the coach said he spent plenty of time Thursday at practice hitting balls to the fielders.
The nonconference win improves the Eagles to 8-5 overall and a perfect 5-0 outside the conference.
Craddock said it is a testament to the quality of teams in this area that the Eagles could beat a 4-A team that came in with an 8-1 record, yet be just 3-5 in the Northwest Conference.
The baseball team had a good turnout for its Pink in the Park game Wednesday, and now the softball team takes its turn this evening with North Surry coming to town.
The school will have a special dedication between the junior varsity and varsity games. The JV game starts at 4:30 p.m.
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