ROCKINGHAM — An anchor on offense and defense for the Richmond Senior High School softball team, junior Quston Leviner has been named the Official Richmond County Female Athlete of the Week presented by HWY 55.
A dual-threat from the pitcher’s circle and at the plate, Leviner picked up her second and third wins of the season while helping the Lady Raiders earn a non-conference and conference win in two games last week.
The Lady Raiders are off to a 3-0 start, and for Leviner, a three-year varsity player, this is her first career recognition.
Athletic Profile
Age: 17
Birthday: Sept. 12, 2004
Year: Junior
Spring Sport: Softball
Position: Pitcher
Years on Varsity: 3 years
Experience: 9 years
“IN THE CIRCLE” WITH QUSTON LEVINER
Serving as the Lady Raiders’ No. 1 pitcher this spring, Leviner battled the elements to earn wins over Montgomery Central and Pinecrest on back-to-back nights last week. Through the team’s first three games this season, she’s been credited with the win each time.
Both mercy-rule wins, Richmond defeated the Lady Timberwolves 13-3 in six innings thanks to a seven-run bottom of the sixth. Leviner pitched a complete game (6 innings) and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on four hits. She also struck out four batters.
At the plate, Leviner helped her cause with a 1-for-2 night with two runs batted in and two walks. Her hit was an RBI double in the bottom of the first, which made it 3-0. Leviner recorded another RBI on a groundout in the sixth inning.
Just 24 hours later, the Lady Raiders opened Sandhills Athletic Conference play with a 10-0 rout of Pinecrest High School in six innings.
Proving to be her best outing of the season, Leviner held the Lady Patriots to just one hit across six shutout innings and punched out 10 batters. Leviner never faced more than four batters in an inning. She retired the Lady Patriots (1-4, 0-1 SAC) in order in the second and third innings.
Helping defeat Pinecrest, Leviner collected a game-high three hits (one double) and added two RBIs. She had an RBI double in the fourth to make it an 8-0 lead, and recorded another RBI on a single in the sixth.
Through three games, Leviner is 3-0 with 16 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched and a 1.17 earned run average. She is batting a team-leading .750 at the plate with three extra-base hits and five RBIS.
Richmond (3-0, 1-0 SAC) will have three more games this week, starting with an away game at conference opponent Hoke County High School (2-3, 1-0 SAC) on Tuesday. Play will begin at 7 p.m.
Quston Leviner fires home a pitch during the fifth inning of Friday’s one-hit win over Pinecrest High School. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
RAPID RESPONSES WITH QUSTON LEVINER
ROSports: What has been the key to your success early this season from the pitching circle? What is your thought process before each pitch?
Leviner: “Pitching and practicing at home has helped me a lot, especially knowing we only have two pitchers. I also knew I’d be the No. 1 pitcher this season so I just really believe in myself when I’m out there.
“Knowing that my team and coaches also have my back also really gives me a lot of confidence. When I’m pitching, I have to tell myself one pitch at a time, otherwise I can get wild with my pitches. I try to throw first-pitch strikes and get ahead in the count.”
ROSports: How do you balance your pitching responsibilities with your efforts at the plate to help the team?
Leviner: “Not a lot of people think pitchers are power hitters, and I continue to work on my own. I don’t want to strikeout or groundout when I’m hitting, and I want to be able to help the team on offense and not just pitching.
“I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, and try not to overthink things at the plate. My focus is on the pitches and I try to hit for contact to move runners and score them.”
ROSports: There are three more games this week, so what do the Lady Raiders need to do to continue the winning streak?
Leviner: “We need to continue to be hot with our bats at the start of games. We need to hit from the first inning and really try to score as many runs as we can early on.
“We play Hoke County on Tuesday and they seem to be hitting the ball well. We don’t want to get behind on the scoreboard, so fast starts should help us keep the streak going.”
The Richmond Observer will publish two more Official Richmond County Athletes of the Week next week.
