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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

Davie’s softball team is rolling with confidence, winning five straight and standing 3-0 in the CPC.
“I’m 100 percent pleased with what we’ve done (since a season-opening loss),” coach Nathan Handy said. “We’ve had several good games in a row. The pitching is on, the bats are on fire and we’re able to make the defensive plays when we need them. Ever since that first game it’s been a completely different team.”
Davie 6, Forbush 4
The War Eagles never trailed in a home nonconference win on March 5.
The big inning was the bottom of the fourth, when Raegan Davis, Carleigh Croom, Jadyn Davis and Raelyn Lankford supplied hits to bump a 1-0 lead to 5-0.
Riley Potts was dominant as the starting pitcher, but Handy pulled her after four shutout innings so she could rest up for the CPC game at East Forsyth later in the week. Forbush immediately pounced, scoring twice in the top of the fifth and sending up dangerous leadoff batter Ellie Southern with a runner aboard. Potts reentered the circle, coaxed an inning-ending grounder and preserved a 5-2 lead.
After that big out, Potts was done after throwing 45 of 61 pitches for strikes in 4.1 hitless innings that included eight strikeouts.
“We went in with the mindset that we were going to give Riley a maximum of four innings,” Handy said. “The fifth could have turned out really bad. We got Ellie (on a grounder to second baseman Hanna Steinour). Even if the game went awry, we wanted Riley 100 percent for East Forsyth on Friday.”
Davie took another punch from the Falcons in the sixth. Five hits cut Davie’s lead from 6-2 to 6-4 and they had the bases loaded with two outs. It was the moment of truth for R. Davis, who acquitted herself well by striking out the No. 9 batter to strand three runners and getting the last four outs in 14 pitches.
“Man, Raegan came through in a big spot,” Handy said. “If we hadn’t have gotten that strikeout, the game could have turned out totally different.”
In the seventh, defensive gems by Steinour and Brenna Altiers wrapped it up. Steinour made a running catch with the tying run at the plate. Altiers, the shortstop, squeezed a tricky popup in the grass to close the door.
“It was probably 10-12 feet behind first base,” Handy said of Steinour’s play. “Hanna had to go way over there to get it. I believe she went into foul territory to get that pop fly. She made a fantastic play on it. If that ball falls in fair territory, you never know.
“It was hit over Brenna’s head and the wind was swirling all night. She went back and ended up having to catch it over her shoulder. The way the wind was blowing, it wasn’t an easy catch.”
Lankford (3-4, double, two steals), Croom (2-4), J. Davis (2-3, two RBIs) and Landry Parsons (2-3, double) accounted for nine of Davie’s 13 hits.
“Everybody seems to be clicking,” Handy said.
Davie 9, East 1
Potts did Potts things and the offensive attack was beautifully balanced in a 9-1 drubbing of East Forsyth in a CPC clash in Kernersville on March 7.
Potts struck out 12 in a four-hitter that saw the senior fire 70 of 105 pitches for strikes. The offense cranked up in the third as J. Davis, Lankford and R. Davis stroked hits in a three-run rally that broke up what had been a scoreless game. It was smooth sailing from there as Davie put the icing on the cake in the seventh, when Delaney Parsons singled and Croom slammed a two-run homer to cap the scoring.
While Lankford (3-5), Addie Brown (2-5), Altiers (2-5) and L. Parsons (2-3) led Davie’s 14-hit attack, all nine batters had at least one hit.
At least six bats have looked awfully good through six games. L. Parsons is hitting .692 (9-13), followed by Lankford (.588, 10-17), J. Davis (.533 (8-15), Croom (.411, 7-17), Brown (.411, 7-17) and Altiers (.411, 7-17). The home run was Croom’s second of the season.
Potts is on fire as well. In 19.2 innings, she’s allowed eight hits, walked eight and fanned 34 while fashioning a 1.42 ERA.
“Raelyn has had a really good start to the season,” Handy said. “She had two long fly balls to left field. She has really turned it on. Carleigh is hitting really well. As soon as it left the bat, we knew it was gone. Jadyn is probably the most disciplined batter that we have. When it comes down to a big spot in a big game, that’s who I want at the plate. Addie had a great night. She got a bunt down when we needed a bunt. Brenna has been hitting really well. Every single girl found a way to get on base.”
The War Eagles have a four-game winning streak against East. Before that, they suffered 10 straight losses in the series.
•••
It was a four-game week that started with a doubleheader at Reynolds on March 4.
Davie laid waste to the lowly Demons, winning 18-0 in three innings and 16-0 in two and a half innings. Lankford, R. Davis, Shila Jackson and Potts shared the pitching duties and struck out all 18 batters in six innings of work. Davie collected 27 hits and extended its winning streak against Reynolds to 59.