BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Pitcher Brook Parrish gave up just two hits, while four batters drove in two runs each in the Northside Christian Academy softball team’s 11-1, five-inning win over visiting Open Bible of Valdosta, Georgia, on April 12.
It was a 2-1 game until the Eagles (4-2) scored nine runs in the fourth and fifth innings, with Bella Smith drawing a bases-loaded walk to force a run in that enforced the mercy rule and ended the game early.
Open Bible’s lone run was unearned. Parrish struck out five and allowed just one walk.
Northside leadoff batter Ava Welsh drew a walk in the bottom of the first. She advanced along the base paths on ground outs by Caydance Slayton and Briley Parrish, scoring on the ball put into play by Parrish.
The Eagles went up 2-0 in the second when Rosalea Norman tripled and scored on a Maddie Kennedy ground out.
Open Bible led off the top of the third with a batter reaching on an error. Another error on a fielder’s choice allowed the runner to score and make it a 2-1 game. A third error in the inning gave the Warriors runners at first and second with two outs. Northside got out of the inning when third baseman Welsh caught a pop-up.
Smith led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk and advanced on a ground out by Welsh and a single by Slayton. Briley Parrish walked to load the bases. Allie Crocker drew another walk to force a run in, followed by a Brook Parrish that scored two runs. Kaylea King and Norman hit back-to-back RBI singles. Smith came up to bat again with the bases loaded, drawing a walk to force a run in and make it an 8-1 game.
The Warriors threatened to score in the fifth, loading the bases with two outs on two errors and an infield single. Brook Parrish got out of the inning when she forced a batter to ground out.
Northside had two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the fifth after Briley Parrish walked and Crocker singled. Four straight batters then walked: King, Norman, Kennedy and Smith. Runs scored on the walks drawn by Norman, Kennedy and Smith.
Smith drew walks in all four of her at-bats. She, Kennedy, Norman and Brook Parrish each had two RBI, with Norman going 2 for 2.
Crocker and King each went 2 for 3 with an RBI.
Briley Parrish finished with one RBI also.
It was the second straight win for Northside, which was coming off a 5-1 win over Trenton’s Riverside Christian on April 9. The Eagles opened the season on March 14 with a 9-4 win over Jasper’s Corinth Christian, followed by a 15-8 loss to High Springs’ First Christian, an 18-3 win over Hope and a 1-0 loss to Jacksonville’s Old Plank.
Northside travels to play Open Bible on Tuesday, April 16, at 4 p.m. and will travel to play Corinth Christian on Thursday, April 18, at 4 p.m. The Eagles host Southside Christian of Waycross, Georgia, on Friday, April 19, at 4 p.m.
