Grace Christian showed no sign of rust as the Lady Crusader softball team returned to action Tuesday evening against the same Rocky Mount Academy team it had beaten decisively before going on hiatus.
The Eagles, who hosted the rematch on Tuesday, are the fourth-ranked team in the NCISAA Division II softball ranks, but No. 3 Grace again beat them with little trouble, downing RMA 9-2 to improve to 6-1 on the season.
The Lady Crusaders beat the Eagles 12-2 on March 21 before going on break. In the return meeting, RMA (5-5) managed to score first and keep Grace at bay until the third inning, but once the Lady Crusaders got going, they pulled away with four runs in the third and four more in the fifth. Rocky Mount made them go the distance this time, but got just one more run, in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Hayley Pugh started the game on the mound for Grace and worked the first four innings, allowinng three hits and no walks while striking out four. Victoria Thomas finished up, surrendering an unearned run in the fifth. RMA touched her up for five hits but did not score again. Thomas struck out three and walked none.
The Eagles opened their half of the first with back-to-back doubles for a run. Grace responded in the third, when Addison Kirk led off the inning with a single and scored on an Adison Gardner double. The next batter wasn’t named Ad(d)ison, and the Eagles got an out, but then Pugh came up with a chance to help herself and did, driving in a run with a hard grounder through the infield into left. Aubrey Gunter followed with a single to right and drove in Pugh. With two out, a Maryn Davis single drove in another run for a 4-1 Grace lead.
The Eagles had a two-out double in their half of the third but did not capitalized, and Grace went right back to the attack after a two-out fielding error extended the the fourth inning. Pugh doubled in Olivia Hochevar, and a second RMA error plus hits by Abby Carville and Davis eventually resulted in a five-run inning and gave Grace command of the game.
Pugh needed just 10 pitches to set down the Eagles in order in their half of the fourth, which qualified her for the win. The home team made it 9-2 in the fifth when a player reached on a passed-ball strikeout and later came in to score, but Thomas set down six in a row before Rocky Mount had two singles in the seventh inning. With two down in the inning, she forced a groundout to end the game.
Grace had 10 hits in the contest, led by Pugh, who was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Davis was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Carville 2-for-4 with a run scored. Gardner went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.
The Lady Crusaders travel to Lawrence Academy for a Friday evening contest.
