Wildcats win Mid-Piedmont title

Roger Whitehead
Special to The Randolph Guide

ASHEBORO May 14, 2008 03:33 pm

— A two-out bloop single in the top of the seventh inning carried Eastern Randolph High School to the Mid-Piedmont 3A Conference softball tournament championship last week.
Lauren Brady delivered the blow as the No. 2-seeded Wildcats knocked off the top-seeded Cougars in a pitchers duel. The showdown was delayed after six scoreless innings by heavy rains, postponing action until the next day.
With one out, Brittany Murray drew a walk, then Ashton Hutcherson drilled a hard liner to the mound. SW Randolph hurler Anna Maness fielded the shot but no one was covering first base and all hands were safe.
Following a popout, Sherika Laughlin drew a walk to load the sacks and set the stage for Brady. Facing a drawn-in defense, Brady slapped her liner into rightfield, the ball falling just in front of a diving Kelsey Hoover.
Staked to a 2-0 lead, Wildcat pitcher Dallas Heaton, who had blanked the hard-hitting Cougars for six innings, went to work in the bottom of the seventh. She retired the first two batters before Sydney Hyder kept SWR hopes alive with a base hit. But Heaton retired the next batter on a groundout and Eastern Randolph had earned the MPC title.
Both SW Randolph, the regular season champion with a 19-2-1 overall record, and E. Randolph captured top seeds in state 3A postseason competition. The Wildcats will enter the playoffs with a 19-6 overall mark.
Heaton, who later captured tournament Most Valuable Player honors, caged up the Cougars on four hits, stopping a SW Randolph attack that usually collects hits in double digits. It was a tough loss for Cougar pitcher Maness, who yielded just three hits to ER, with five strikeouts and six walks.
The Wildcats had moved into the finals with a 5-1 victory over Randleman in the semis. Heaton, only a freshman, again was the star, turning in a complete game and shutting down the Tigers on 10 strikeouts and allowing one earned run on three hits and one walk.
SWR advanced by crushing Trinity 19-0 in a game called after three innings because of the huge lead.
Tournament play had opened with Eastern Randolph coasting to a 15-0 romp over Ragsdale at Grady Lawson Field. The game was called after four innings.
Allison Buck earned the decision with a one-hit mound performance and four strikeouts. Cassie Lowe led the offense with four RBI on three hits. Hutcherson racked up two hits and two RBI while Gabby Poe drove in three runs.

Kelly Smith transfers to ECU
RAMSEUR - Kelly Smith, former basketball standout at Eastern Randolph, is transferring to East Carolina University next season. Smith played for West Virginia University the past two years after having spent the 2006-2007 season as a redshirt freshman. Last season Smith played in 25 of the Mountaineers' games, including a pair in the NCAA tournament.
While a performer at ERHS, Smith averaged more than 18 points per game, 11 rebounds and six assists. She scored 1,647 career points to become the all-time leader for the school. In her senior season, Smith earned Player of the Year honors in the Mid-Piedmont 3A Conference and was on the All-State roster. She was named Randolph County Player of the Year three times.