Harvey Simpson
Cordele Dispatch
Vienna —
By HARVEY SIMPSON
Dispatch Sports Editor
CORDELE — After struggling to a 1-4 record in their first five starts of the new season, Crisp Academy’s Lady Wildcats appear to have gotten their act together.
The 16-5 victory they recorded Thursday over Central Fellowship’s Lady Lancers was the fourth in their last five starts and in all of those wins they have scored 11 or more runs.
“I’m very proud of the girls as they all played real well,” coach Erin Davis said after watching her team’s recent performance surge alter its overall record to 5-5 heading into a 4:30 Thursday game at Randolph Southern.
“Maddie (Krause) did a great job of pitching (allowing four hits, fanning three and walking one in four innings of work) as did Jay Jay (Yawn) when she came on in relief (during which she whiffed one and walked two).
“We did make a few errors but kept them to a minimum and in the last two innings in particular we hit the ball really well. It was just another good day for us overall.”
Central Fellowship, which entered hoping to get revenge for the 21-9 whipping Crisp had inflicted upon it five days earlier, capitalized on three Lady Wildcat errors to score twice in the top of the first.
The home team used a pair of walks and several wild pitches and passed balls to draw even in their half of the initial frame and then went ahead for good with a four-run second.
Madi Mitchell lived on an error, Krause got hit by a pitch and Kayla Childers drew a walk to load the bases and get things going. Yawn’s sacrifice fly scored Mitchell before Ashley Athon walked to re-fill the bags. Ashley Purvis doubled to plate Krause and Childers before coming home herself on a passed ball.
After the Lady Lancers got two of those runs back in the third, Crisp scored once in the third when Yawn walked with the sacks full before the visitors came up with another run in the fourth.
The Lady Wildcats then broke the game wide open with a nine-run outburst that featured singles by Kristen Greene and Paige Jackson, doubles by Krause, Purvis and Mitchell and a triple by Athon.
Purvis finished the day with two doubles and a single and Greene wound up with a pair of singles.
