Win knocks Lakeland out of SED tournament

By Tray Mason
Correspondent

King’s Fork High School’s amazing run to end the regular season continued into the postseason Friday, as they beat cross-town rival Lakeland, 6-0.

The Lady Bulldogs scored in every inning but the first as they advanced into the semifinals of the Southeastern District Tournament.

“The girls were highly motivated today,” King’s Fork head coach Richard Froemel said. “And our hitting came around.”

The Lady Bulldogs hammered away at Lakeland freshman pitcher Brooke Mizelle.

She had two dominating outings versus the Lady Bulldogs in the two regular season matchups, but such was not the case on Friday.

To make matters worse for the Lady Cavaliers, King’s Fork freshman pitcher Sydney Wash had one of her strongest games of the year.

Wash overpowered Lakeland’s lineup and was unflappable when she got into jams.

She pitched a complete game, striking out 12 batters, while giving up just three hits and three walks.

The game was Wash’s third consecutive shutout and eighth overall.

“Sydney is on her game right now,” Froemel said. “We’re going to ride it, (but) we’ve got to hit the ball. If she does all of that, and we don’t hit the ball it doesn’t make any difference. We’re going to complement her pitching.”

The team did more than just complement her pitching in this game.

The Lady Bulldogs got on the board early when Lakeland wasn’t able to field a shallow fly ball hit by Shania Holland.

Taylor Davis and Megan Blythe both crossed home plate, and the Lady Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

Lakeland had an opportunity to tie the game in the following inning.

Two straight errors from Kings Fork put runners on second and third base with two outs.

Mizelle came to the plate with the chance to give herself some run support.

She hit a ball that surely would have gone through the infield had it not been hit straight back to Wash, who fielded the shot smoothly and got out of the inning safely.

The Lady Cavs were 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position.

Ashley Roten scored in the bottom half of the third inning on a single from Davis, giving the Lady Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.

After Holland scored on an error in the fourth inning, Monica Logwood hit an RBI single that brought home Autumn Vick, giving her team a 5-0 lead.

The game was a stark contrast from the first two meetings between the teams, which were both decided by just one run.

The loss is a disappointing end to what looked to be a promising season for Lakeland.

The team got off to a great start with a record of 5-1 and even beat eventual Southeastern District champion Hickory High School.

The Lady Cavs then lost seven of eight games and stumbled to the finish line of the regular season.

King’s Fork is peaking at just the right time.

They also upset Hickory amid the five-game win streak they are currently on.

The Lady Bulldogs will meet the top-seeded Hawks again in the semifinal of the Southeastern District tourney.

The game will be held Tuesday at  Nansemond River, staring at 5:30 p.m.