Ferguson homers in sluggish win

Published 9:06 am Thursday, May 3, 2018

The Davie softball team’s offense didn’t quite live up to coach Dawn Lowery’s expectations during a home nonconference game against Oak Grove on April 28, yet it didn’t have to in order to dispatch the Grizzlies 12-2 in four and a half innings.

Davie was an overwhelming favorite against a first-year program that has 12 freshmen, five sophomores and no upperclassmen.

It was the definition of a trap game, placed on the revamped schedule between the start of a showdown with East Forsyth and the completion of that game. Davie and East played three-plus innings two days prior before rain forced suspension of play. It was completed April 30.

“We were a little flat,” Lowery said. “The score didn’t really show that. When we were up 7-0, we really didn’t have any hard hits at that point. We were kind of blooping it here and there. I was looking for us to be more dominant and aggressive, but it came around toward the end and we got the job done.”

Despite being sluggish, the War Eagles jumped on top 3-0 in the first and pushed the margin to 7-0 in the third. Sierra Ferguson killed two pitches, hitting a solo home run in the fourth and a two-run double to finish off the mercy-rule beating in the fifth. The double was inches from another homer, the missile banging off the top of the center-field fence.

The dinger was Ferguson’s team-high fourth on the season. The lefty headed for Winthrop also leads the team in average (.424), RBIs (30) and doubles (six). Her 18th career homer extended her record. The 30 RBIs rank No. 4 on the single-season list; she holds the record with 47 last year.

Anna Devereaux (3 for 4, three runs), Ferguson (2-4) and Emilee Dishman (2-3, three RBIs) led the offense as Davie collected 11 hits and dropped Oak Grove’s overall record to 9-12.

Rachel Bostic was the winning pitcher, working four scoreless innings. Sydney Smith recorded the final three outs as Davie, which has won seven of eight, improved to 12-8. It was the fifth win by a double-digit margin.

The War Eagles were higher than the Empire State Building when they resumed play against East on April 30. They were batting with a 10-5 lead in the bottom of the fourth. A win would clinch at least a share of the regular-season championship in the Central Piedmont Conference.