Central, SC – Southern Wesleyan split the doubleheader against the North Greenville Crusaders on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors claimed an 8-4 run victory in game one before falling in game two in a 7-2 final score.
The Warriors had 13 hits in game one. Addi Johnson led the team with three hits. Four Warriors followed with two hits. Talissa Cannady and Charity Dennis each doubled, while Johnson picked up her second home run. Johnson went on to lead the team with three of the eight RBIs. Sarah Prater followed with two RBIs. Southern Wesleyan walked four times, and both Emma Jo Wolfe and Johnson had stolen bases. Wolfe pitched a complete game for the Warriors and struck out two batters.
Southern Wesleyan totaled five hits in the second game of the afternoon. Sarah Prater doubled in the game. The lone RBI of the game came off the bat of Emma Jo Wolfe. The Warriors walked two times and Talissa Cannady stole a base. Jaelyn Montfort started game two and pitched three innings. Ella Grace Lawton came in to pitch four innings in relief.
Game Vitals
Game One Final: Southern Wesleyan 8, North Greenville 4
Game Two Final: North Greenville 7, Southern Wesleyan 2
Records: Southern Wesleyan (4-36 / CC 2-20) North Greenville (21-21 / CC 9-9)
How It Happened
Game One
North Greenville took the first run of the afternoon as a single by Green allowed Wilkinson to come in to score.
Southern Wesleyan countered in the bottom of the first inning. Emma Jo Wolfe led off with a single to center field and then stole second base. A fly out by Addi Johnson allowed Wolfe to advance to third. With two outs, Andi Grae Wingate singled up the middle to bring Wolfe in to score. Ryanne Yarborough reached first on an error by the short stop that allowed Wingate to move up a base. A wild pitch then allowed both runners to advance to put them both in scoring position. Sarah Prater then hit a single through the left side to advance Yarborough to third and allow Wingate to come in to score and give Southern Wesleyan the lead. A single by Emmy Copeland brought Yarborough across home plate to put the Warriors ahead 3-1.
The Warriors maintained the intensity in the bottom of the second inning. Charity Dennis led off with a double to left center. An error by the short stop allowed Emma Jo Wolfe to reach first. Talissa Cannady laid down a sacrifice bunt to put both runners in scoring position. Addi Johnson then singled to right field to bring Dennis in to score.
Addi Johnson led off the bottom of the fourth with a single up the middle. Johnson then stole second. Andi Grae Wingate walked to put two runners on. A fly out by Ryanne Yarborough allowed Johnson to move up to third base. Sarah Prater then hit a sacrifice fly out to left field to bring Johnson across home plate and extend the Warriors lead to 5-1.
The Crusaders countered as their second run came in to score on a wild pitch.
Southern Wesleyan pushed further ahead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Kori Rominger led off by reaching first on an error by the short stop. With one out, Emma Jo Wolfe grounded out to short stop to allow Rominger to advance to second. Talissa Cannady followed with a double to right center field to bring Rominger in to score and regain the Warriors four run lead. A wild pitch allowed Cannady to advance to third base. Addi Johnson then drilled the ball over the left field wall to score Cannady and give Southern Wesleyan an 8-2 run lead.
North Greenville brought two more runs in to score in the top of the sixth inning, however Southern Wesleyan walked away with an 8-4 run victory in game one.
Game Two
The Crusaders once again took the first run of the game as they brought one run in to score in the top of the first inning. They plated more runs in the top of the third, fourth and sixth innings to extend their lead to 7-0.
The Warriors challenged in the bottom of the seventh inning. Ryanne Yarborough led off with a single up the middle. A double to right field by Sarah Prater allowed Yarborough to advance to third base. With two outs, Autumn Barnhardt reached on a dropped third strike passed ball that allowed both runners to advance a base. A single by Emma Jo Wolfe then allowed Prater to score. However, the Warriors fell to the Crusaders in a 7-2 final score.
What's Next
Southern Wesleyan will wrap up the regular season on April 22 as they host the Converse Valkyries at Varsity Field. The Warriors will celebrate their two seniors during the game.
