NR beats Cavs and cold
Published 10:53 pm Thursday, March 19, 2009
With the ballfields at Nansemond River, or any local school, not necessarily dry, but dry enough to play, Lakeland and Nansemond River braved more rain and cold winds on the softball field Thursday evening.
Nansemond River’s Jenna Bryant held Lakeland to two hits and pitched the Warriors to a 7-3 victory.
After Lakeland took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, NR tied the score in the bottom of the first and moved ahead in the second.
After a brief rain delay, NR got the last two outs of the Lakeland second then went to work manufacturing runs.
Fitting the weather, it wasn’t completely pretty as NR’s rally started with Ashley Davenport being hit by an Ashley Carroll pitch, then Taylor Benson reaching on an error which allowed Davenport to score.
Rachel Henderson sent a smash into rightfield which skipped to the fence for an RBI triple. After Henderson was caught trying to steal home on a passed ball, then a strikeout for Carroll, NR’s rally didn’t stop with two outs and no one on base.
Three straight singles by Stephanie Tarafas, Kayla Coburn and Anna Cain led to another NR run for a 4-1 lead.
NR added another manufactured run in the fourth as a leadoff walk to Coburn, then sacrifices by Cain and Rachel Hawks, NR’s third and fourth-place hitters, scored Coburn.
Lakeland finally got to Bryant’s pitching for a moment in the sixth inning. Savannah Nuckols lined a triple inches inside the left field foul line which scored Alyssa Chirico. Nuckols scored two hitters later to bring Lakeland within 5-3, but that was as much of a rally as Bryant allowed.
NR tacked those two runs back on in the bottom half of the sixth with a two-out, two-RBI single by pinch-hitter Loren Daubenspeck.
Bryant finished with seven strikeouts. Hawks, along with Daubenspeck, had two RBI for the Warrior offense. Tarafas was 2 of 3 with two runs.
Lakeland (0-2, 0-2) plays at Grassfield on Friday afternoon while Nansemond River (1-1, 1-1) must travel to take on defending district champion Hickory on Friday.