SPARTANBURG — The Newberry softball team efforts on offense and defense proved too much as they swept Converse.
Game One (Newberry win 11-0 {5 inns.})
The story of game one was of senior Selice Daley. The Bluffton native pitched her first career perfect game in the win. In her complete game effort she faced and retired the first 15 batters, including striking out eight. This was Newberry’s first perfect game recorded since computer records were kept in the mid-1990’s.
The Wolves got to the Valkyries pitching staff early in the first game. After the first three Newberry batters reached base safely, senior Haley Simonds was next to the plate. Simonds lined a single to center to bring home two runs. Junior Hannah Davis followed suit right after that by hitting the ball through the left side to bring in another run. Junior Morgan Wagaman joined in the RBI parade by sending a ball down the left field line to bring in another Wolves runner.
Newberry scored their final runs during the at bat of junior Paige Meyer. Even though Meyer was credited with a fielder’s choice, she still put the ball in play to allow two more Newberry runs to score. At the conclusion of the first inning, the Wolves were leading 6-0.
The Wolves did more damage in the third inning, starting with them scoring off a wild pitch to make it 7-0. Later on in the third, junior McKenzie Barneycastle drove in two runs herself by doubling to left field. Simonds hit a sacrifice fly to left, to drive in sophomore Julia Bomhardt. Davis would drive in the final Newberry run on an RBI ground out to make it 11-0.
Game Two (Newberry wins 13-7)
Newberry got to Converse early again in the second game. It started off with Davis hitting a sacrifice fly to center to score Meyer. Sophomore Victoria Eaton smacked a double-down the left field line to bring in two, on the very next at bat. The Wolves scored one more run off a single by freshman Tedi Nunn, to be up 4-0 after the top of the first.
Converse got one back in the bottom half of the inning, when Brooklyn McElrath hit a home run over left center.
Each team scored a run in the third inning to make it 5-2. Eaton of Newberry singled up the middle and an error by the center fielder allowed a run to score. Converse got their run off a single by McElrath.
In the fourth inning, the Wolves tacked on five more runs. Starting off with Simonds hitting a single to left to drive in two runs. Eaton brought in another run on an RBI ground out. During junior Morgan Wagaman at bat, she singled a ball back up the middle to bring in two more runs.
McElrath would strike again as she singled up the middle to drive in her third RBI of the game. The Valkyries scored two more runs off a Wolves throwing error. Converse scored one more run off an RBI ground out by Grace McKinney, to cap off a four run inning in the fifth.
Nunn’s second hit of the game was an RBI double to left to score Simonds. Next up was Wagaman, who had an RBI ground out to score Eaton. Nunn scored on a wild pitch before the top of the sixth ended.
Converse scored one last run in the bottom half of the sixth, off a throwing error by Newberry.
In the second game the combine efforts of freshman Kinslee Wilson and Kylee Barry, along with Simonds made up the pitching staff. Wilson, who got the win, went the first three innings giving up two runs on four hits and struck out four. Simonds pitched the next three innings giving up five runs, zero earned, on two hits while striking out three. Barry pitched the seventh and retired the side by getting two fly outs and a ground out.
