By By Matthew Nascone
The Central High School Lady Jaguars never saw it coming. It was a 10-run Northview Lady Chiefs victory.
NHS (9-5) defeated the Jaguars 10-0 April 3 at home as Kelly Digmon crossed the plate for the 10th NHS run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
"This was a much needed win for us," NHS head coach Sammy Day said. "We needed this win to get our confidence back."
That lack of confidence was due to a two-game losing streak in the team's previous two games. Assistant coach Stephanie Elowsky said two games might not be a lot, but it is always good to put an end to any losing streak.
Caitlyn Spence toed the rubber for the Lady Chiefs and threw a three-hitter shutout. Spence had three strikeouts and one walk in the performance.
At the plate for NHS Nikki Crabtree was 3-for-3 and a home run short of the cycle. She had a single, double and triple to go along with three RBI and one run scored. Stephanie Covan was 1-for-3 at the plate with an inside the park home run to right center field.
Darbi Langhorne scored three runs and Kayla Presley did not get an official plate appearance because she was walked twice and was hit by a pitch. She scored all three times she reached base.
"We didn't hit the ball well tonight, but we did get the hits when we needed them," Day said. "No matter what it looked like, it was a win for us and that is always a good thing."
Day commented on how the Lady Chiefs have been leading in every game of the year except their game against the Escambia Academy Lady Cougars.
"We have been ahead of teams and we need to learn how to put a team away when we get them down. So this game was good for that fact."
The Lady Chiefs play their final district game tomorrow against Catholic High School. The results will be in Sunday's Advance. NHS is 3-2 in district play this year and Day said he is ready to play Catholic.
In baseball action
In a district game March 30 against Walton, the Northview baseball Cougars dropped a close 5-4 game.
The Chiefs (8-9, 3-2 in district play) were down 3-2 after three innings and head coach Sid Wheatley said his team made a comeback effort, but they could not take advantage of one key situation.
"We had runners on second and third with no outs in sixth inning, down 5-4, and we were not able to get anyone home," Wheatley said.
Wheatley said his team's production in the early inning games nullified the late-inning surge the team made. Walton had grabbed a 5-1 lead and Travis Duncan hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to make the score 5-3. The Chiefs scored again in the fifth inning to narrow the lead to 5-4, but Wheatley said the sixth inning mishap was a killer.
"We dug too deep a hole to climb out of," he said. "A team can't afford to have that slow of a start. I give our guys a lot of credit for battling back, but we have to play all seven innings with that intensity."
Jeff Price (1-2) took the loss for the Chiefs as he pitched a complete game and struck out four batters. He allowed five runs on seven hits in his six innings of work.
Brandon Walker led NHS at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and one run scored. Jake Lowery was 2-for-3 with one run scored. Duncan was 1-for-3 with a two-run home run. Clayton Haynie was 1-for-3 with one run scored.
The Chiefs faced Flomaton in Bratt April 4 and the results will be in Sunday's Advance. NHS hosts Harrison County High School from Kentucky tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.