BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C.— The Montreat softball team wrapped up its 2023 regular season with one final home Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) doubleheader as the Cavaliers played host to the Bryan College Lions Thursday evening in Black Mountain, N.C. The Cavs fought valiantly on senior day but ultimately lost a pair of 8-7 and 3-1 matchups, dropping their record to 10-39 (6-22 AAC) to end the year.
Game one featured a combined total of 15 runs, 14 of which were scored during the initial three frames. The Lions utilized a pair of hits, a throwing error and a double steal to grab the 1-0 edge in the top of the first frame; however, Montreat came right back in the bottom half of the inning when
Alyssa Hudson drove home
Taylor Yonke on a single up the middle.
Montreat seized a 4-1 lead behind a 3-run second. After
Leyna Gould and
Kylie Granger set the table with a pair of singles, Yonke plated both runners with her triple to center field. Yonke then came around to score during the next at-bat as Camryn Bass blooped a double into center.
Bryan (17-25, 14-14 AAC) relied on a crooked number in the top of the third to flip the script. The visitors, powered by five hits, pushed six runs across home plate to erase their 3-run deficit and seize a 3-run lead (7-4). Despite the sudden change, the Cavaliers weren't fazed. Gould (2-RBI single) and
Keelie Mauk (RBI single) collected run-producing knocks that once again tied the ballgame, this time at seven through three.
Both bullpens slowed their counterparts through the middle-to-latter stages of the contest.
Kendall Rubel tossed four hitless innings inside the pitcher's circle as the freshman allowed just three Lions to reach safely during her outing. Meanwhile, Bryan's reliever tossed five scoreless frames to finish out the game.
The Lions scored the game-winning run in the top of the seventh thanks to a trio of singles. Meanwhile, the Cavs went down in order in the bottom half of the frame, dropping game one by an 8-7 final.
Five different Cavaliers notched exactly two hits in the opener as the hosts tallied 13 total hits across seven frames. Six Montreat athletes notched a run scored, while Yonke proved to be the lone Cav to score two runs.
Deanna Waddell dominated the Bryan offense early in game two, surrendering just two hits and facing one batter over the minimum through her initial five innings of work. With five shutout frames inside the circle, Waddell bought time for the Montreat offense to break through and put a run on the board.
Yonke and Bass began the bottom of the fifth with a pair of infield singles, setting the stage for the ballgame's initial run. Following a dropped fly ball in left,
Ashley Steadman worked the count and drew a 2-out, bases-loaded walk to push the Cavs in front, 1-0.
Bryan answered the Cavaliers immediately, scoring a run of its own thanks to two fielding errors in the top of the sixth. Meanwhile, the hosts couldn't come up with a clutch hit in the sixth or seventh, sending the contest into extras knotted at one.
After a scoreless eighth frame, the Lions surged ahead of the Cavs in the ninth with an RBI double and a sacrifice fly.
Alara Cashwell kept the hosts alive with a 2-out single in the bottom of the inning, but Bryan shut the door on a Cavalier comeback as the visitors finished off an AAC doubleheader sweep with a 3-1 win.
Waddell tossed 8.1 innings in the pitcher's circle, while
Kyann Lyne and
Leah Coffing each threw scoreless 0.1 innings to finish out the day. Offensively, Yonke (2-4) and Bass (2-3) combined for half of the Cavs' eight hits.
With the 2023 season complete, the Montreat softball team turns its attention toward the offseason where the Cavs hope to lay the groundwork for next spring.
