LAUREL HILL, N.C. — The Rockingham Middle School softball team saw its bid for a 2019 Southeastern Middle School Athletic Conference championship come up short Wednesday.
On the road at No. 1 Carver Middle School, the No. 2 Lady Rockets lost the title matchup 5-2. It marked the second consecutive season the Lady Eagles defeated Rockingham in the playoff finale.
The three-run win was Carver’s smallest margin of victory this season, the previous being four runs in its 5-1 win over the Lady Rockets during the regular season. Beating Rockingham made it the Lady Eagles’ 22-straight victory, including the postseason.
“I am so proud of my girls,” first-year head coach Morgan Davis said following the season-ending loss. “They worked hard all season long and fought until the very end.
“We improved so much over these past few months,” she added. “And together we really grew as a team and had a great season.”
Carver would score four runs in the bottom of the third inning to take an early lead. Rockingham’s Savanna Mullins pitched her third-straight playoff game, going all seven innings, giving up five runs on 10 hits and striking out six batters.
Opposite of Mullins was Lady Eagles’ pitcher Sydnee Dial. She allowed two runs on four hits, while striking out six Lady Rockets.
Rockingham would score both of its runs in the top of the fourth inning. With a runner on base, seventh grader Keyoni Nichols roped an RBI triple to the left-center gap.
In the next at-bat, Aston Alexander, who had a monster three-run double in the semifinal win over Hamlet Middle School, sent a laser back up the middle to score Nichols from third.
Ashley Murphy and Sydney Smith were responsible for the other two Rockingham hits.
The Lady Rockets posted a 9-3 overall record in 2019, including playoff wins over East Hoke and Hamlet middle schools.
