Arden Finney, Forbush’s first baseman, lays out to make a diving catch in foul territory.
Zach Colburn | Special to The Ripple
MILLERS CREEK — Two of the Foothills 2A Conference’s top young pitchers squared off on Friday evening.
West Wilkes would use a quartet of early runs to fend off Forbush, 7-3, in a battle of conference unbeaten squads.
Sophomore Lily Proffit, who swept the Mountain Valley 1A/2A Athletic Conference’s Player and Pitcher of the year accolades as a freshman last year, went the distance inside the circle as she struck out 17 Lady Falcons. She allowed just three hits.
The Falcons’ Ellie Southern, a freshman, looked to build off a stellar one-hit, 14-strikeout performance against Starmount earlier in the week. She took the loss after allowing six earned runs and eight hits in just three innings.
However, Southern managed to get the better of Proffit in the batter’s box as she smacked a solo home run to lead off the sixth that cut the Lady Blackhawks’ lead to 6-2.
But it was West Wilkes (9-1, 3-0) who gained the upper hand in the early innings.
Kacey Triplett put the Lady Blackhawks on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI single; Madison Fletcher tacked on to the lead in the second with a two-run homer.
Presley Dancy, who along with Fletcher finished with three hits apiece, made it a 4-0 advantage after two innings with an RBI single.
The Lady Falcons, who fell to 2-1 in league play and 6-4 overall, finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth.
Aria Wilson drew a lead off walk and then stole second base; the sophomore took third after a bad throw on the stolen base attempt. An errant pick-off attempt would allow Wilson to score.
After Proffit retired the next two Forbush batters, Arden Finney (hit by pitch), Kasey Matthews (reach on error) and Brooke Davis (walk) loaded the bases.
Proffit then closed the door on another scoring opportunity as she struck out Korbyn Brown.
Dancy and Kendall Stanley pushed the lead to five after four innings with an RBI single and an RBI walk, respectively.
Despite the loss, Carley Joyner was solid in relief as the junior allowed two hits and no earned runs (one run allowed) in three innings of work.
After they host West Wilkes in East Bend on Tuesday, the Lady Falcons remain in league play with a trip to North Surry on Friday.
West Wilkes will travel to Watauga on Thursday and then travel to North Wilkes on Friday.
Forbush scores lucky 13 in win over former conference foe
The Lady Falcons scored in every inning of their 13-2 win over Walkertown on Thursday in a battle of former Western Piedmont 2A Athletic Conference foes.
Forbush scored twice in the first, twice in the third and three times in the fourth as the game ended after four-and a-half innings via the mercy rule.
But the Lady Falcons put up a six-spot in the bottom of the second. Sorrell headlined the inning with a bases clearing double to give the hosts a 5-0 advantage.
Sorrell scored on an RBI single from Kiki Wall and Southern added an RBI groundout. Arden Finney punctuated the inning with an RBI sacrifice fly.
Walkertown (7-3) cut the deficit to 8-2 with a two-run double from Kayleigh Holmes.
But Wilson, one of three Forbush players with two hits (Wall and Southern being the other others), extended the lead back to eight with a two-run single.