MARION, N.C.— The Montreat softball team wrapped up its opening weekend on Saturday with two more non-conference games at Big League Camp in Marion, N.C. Like it did the day prior, the Cavaliers picked up victories against the Alice Lloyd College Eagles and the Bluefield State University Big Blue, taking the opener 9-3 before winning 11-6 in game two. With the triumphs, the Cavs improved to 4-0 on the young season, their best start to a campaign since at least 2004.
Alice Lloyd (1-3) plated the first three runs in the opener, but Montreat stormed back to take the lead with a 4-run bottom of the third.
Jasmine Rachal got the hosts on the board with a 2-run blast to left center, her second homer of the weekend. Later in the inning,
Alanna Hernandez drove in a pair thanks to her 2-out double to center.
Montreat registered the remainder of its runs in the fourth as the hosts pushed five across to vault in front, 9-3. Rachal once again started the scoring via her 2-run triple before coming around on
Makayla Reid's RBI groundout.
Dayton Kell and
Leyna Gould tallied back-to-back bases-loaded walks in the inning to build the advantage up to 9-3 through four.
Victoria Alcantar handled the Eagles' bats from there, retiring 12 consecutive hitters between the third and seventh innings. The Apple Valley, Calif. native threw a complete game, going all seven frames with six punchouts while surrendering just one earned run. As Alcantar recorded the final out, the Cavaliers captured the 9-3 triumph.
Rachal (2-4), Alcantar (2-3) and Hernandez (2-3) each notched a pair of hits versus Alice Lloyd pitching, and Rachal (4 RBIs) and Hernandez (2 RBIs) also knocked in multiple runs.
Bluefield State (1-3) utilized an RBI single to move in front of the Cavs in the first, but Montreat batted around in the bottom half of the frame, scoring four times to seize early control in game two, 4-1.
Amayia Hernandez and Rachal then opened the bottom of the second with back-to-back triples, and Rachal grew the Cavaliers' lead to 6-1 one batter later thanks to a wild pitch.
The Big Blue got a run back in the third frame, but Reid teed off on a pitch with the bases juiced, crushing a grand slam over the right field fence for the 10-2 edge through three.
BSU tried to close the gap, pushing across four more runs during the final four frames; however, it wasn't enough to erase its deficit. A native of North Port, Fla., Rachal delivered one more RBI hit to cap off the Cavs' scoring output, and the home side secured an 11-6 win in the process.
Montreat's top three players in the batting order—
Amayia Hernandez, Rachal and Reid—totaled multiple hits in the win. Six different Cavaliers collected an RBI in game two, led by Reid's four. Hernandez and Rachal each scored three runs as well.
The Montreat softball team heads to the state of Georgia next Friday for a non-conference doubleheader at Albany State University. First pitch of game one is set for 1 p.m. in Albany, Ga.
