by Amy Davis

COURTLAND
Southampton Indians softball has been on a roll. With a little over halfway through, the season the Lady Indians are leading the district with seven wins and no losses. The Indians began District play defeating Windsor 8-0 and Park View 6-1, the two biggest competitors. The Lady Indians defeated Sussex 19-2; Franklin 29-0; and Greensville 17-2 in five innings. The Indians also defeated two teams in region 3A, Petersburg 21-0 and Colonial Heights 13-2.

Colonial Heights was a big win for the Indians because they have come up short the past few years against them. The Indians got the bats early going up on the Colonials 1-0 in the first with a string of singles from Diamond Jones, Jordyn Greene, Maddie Simmons and an RBI single from Mady Wood. The Indians added one more run in both the second and third innings, and Colonial Heights finally got on the board in the bottom of the third with a few hits making it a tight game at 3-2.

The Indians answered in the top of the fourth scoring three runs off three Indian doubles from Rachel McNeil, Jordyn Greene and Hilary Newlon, bringing the score to 6-2. The Lady Indians were not finished with their offense scoring one more in the fifth and six in the sixth with a final score of 13-2 in six innings.

Defense was stellar, led by the pitching of Wood with nine strike outs, but it was the bats that were on fire. McNeil went 4 for 5; Greene went 4 for 4; Simmons went 4 for 5; Jones went 2 for 5; Wood and Hilary Newlon went 2 for 4; and Gracen Ogburn went 3 for 3.

The Indians suffered their first loss in region play against a tough Tabb team. The Indians came up short in the defensive battle losing 0-2.

The game was an even match, but the Tigers capitalized on a couple of Indian mistakes in the bottom of the fourth, and the Indians never could capitalize leaving base runners on several times. It is likely we will see Tabb again in the regional tournament.

We faced Windsor last Thursday for the second time, winning 3-0. This was a defensive battle up until the bottom of the fourth. Greene got the offense going with a triple to the right field gap. Wood had an RBI to score Greene. Newlon had a double to the opposite field setting Carawan Harris up to drive in the two runs with a double to bring the Indians up to a 3-0 lead.

Wood led the defense with 14 strike outs giving up four hits. The Indians had five hits: Newlon, Harris, Greene and two from Wood.

Southampton defeated Park View 3-1 on Thursday’s game. The Lady Indians scored all three of their runs in the first inning on a 3-run out-of-the-park homer by Simmons. Park View scored their only run of the game in the first inning. The remainder of the day was a defensive battle, with the Indians coming out on top. In the circle, Wood had nine strikeouts, 0 walks and one earned run. Offense was led by Simmons with three RBIs. Jones, Newlon, Greene and Brittany Cobb all contributed with hits.

The Lady Indians face Sussex on Tuesday and Franklin on Thursday, both at home. The first pitch is at 4:30 p.m.

Overall, the Lady Indians are 10 and 2; 9-0 in the Tri-Rivers District.

They will finish out the regular season in the next two weeks. The district tournament will begin on Tuesday, May 15, and the Lady Indians are in the right position to host the first round of play.

AMY DAVIS is the coach for the Lady Indians softball team. Contact her at 653-2751.