By Titus Mohler
Correspondent

The 17-1 NSA varsity softball team began its pursuit of the conference crown with a resounding 12-0 victory over Norfolk Academy during round one of the TCIS tournament on Tuesday.

The Lady Saints wasted no time. The score was 10-0 by the end of the second inning, and the final score had been reached by the end of the third. With no change in the score after the fifth inning, the game was called.

“I was glad that we came out from the beginning attacking, and we did a good job of forcing them to make mistakes,” head coach Kim Aston said. “Our goal was just to put the ball in play on the ground and make them make mistakes. We thought that we would be able to get some easy runs that way.”

Morgan Daughtry led the way for her team, pitching a five-inning shutout with nine strikeouts. Offensively, she had three hits and three RBIs.

“I thought Morgan pitched a great game today,” Aston said. “She didn’t put anybody on.”

Daughtry indicated that nerves were not really a big issue this time around. It was more about just getting the job done. She felt especially good given the previous game against NA.

“The last time we played NA, we didn’t come out as strong,” she said. “Beating them (12-0), coming out strong, was a good improvement.”

This was the third time this season that NSA had faced NA. The Lady Saints won the first meeting 17-0, but the second win, 7-1, did not come with the same dominance.

“I think when you beat somebody that bad the first go-round and then you come out (and) kind of think you’re going to win when you step on the field, (we) just didn’t have the energy that we needed to have,” Aston said. “This game, I think when we came out, we were excited and ready to play, and that makes a big difference.”

Macy Mears and Morgan Lokie had three hits apiece. Brooklyn Carr had 2 RBIs, and Brooke Starling and Katelyn McCracken both had two stolen bases.

Nansemond-Suffolk combined for a total of 14 hits and managed to hold NA to only one.

The Saints will face either Cape Henry or Bishop Sullivan on Thursday.