The entire Walker Valley lineup chipped in for a 12-0 victory over District 5-AAA foe and crosstown rival Cleveland in a four-inning affair that gave the Lady Mustangs another win.
Each player in the Lady Mustangs’ lineup recorded at least one hit capped by sophomore designated hitter Ali King’s first career home run that came with a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning to blow open an 11-0 lead for Walker Valley.
“I’ve never hit a home run, and I didn’t really expect that,” King said.
“It was my favorite pitch. It was high and inside.”
That pitch was the exclamation point to a dominating performance by the Lady Mustangs in the team’s first game back from a Spring Break trip to Florida. Head Coach Lauren Limburg admitted that the team didn’t hit very well in Florida. However, this was a convincing response to claim a district win on “Strike Out Cancer” night at Larry Haney Field.
The event was started in 2004 by Lee University to support local residents fighting cancer. All proceeds from the games go to help local residents.
In the game itself, strike out the opposition was just what Alicia Raymond did for Walker Valley on the mound. The starting pitcher threw the complete four-inning shutout, allowing two hits during the contest and adding four strikeouts. Raymond also contributed at the plate with a hit in the second inning.
Shortstop Hallie Davis was optimistic following the win that the victory was exactly what the Lady Mustangs needed going forward after a bumpy start to the season.
“We’ve been up and down this season, but right now we’re starting to gain power,” Davis said. “Everyone is starting to realize their role and get more into it.”
Davis said her role on the team is to be a leader; both vocally as the leader of the team’s drum line, which cheers on players as they go to bat, and on the field anchoring the Walker Valley defense at shortstop. Davis scored two runs, added a hit and an RBI in the game. Davis’s leadership seemed to give the Lady Mustangs some intensity and focus, something Limburg challenged the team to do.
“Our girls came out focused,” Limburg said. “I challenged them before the game to come out with fire, intensity and drive. That’s something I feel like we’ve had some games and some games we’ve let relax a little bit.”
Cleveland held Walker Valley scoreless in the first inning, but the Lady Raiders weren’t able to deliver any runs of their own in the top half of the inning, and the score was knotted 0-0 after the first inning.
The Lady Mustangs put the first runs on the board on the base path in the bottom of the second. Raymond reached based on a single that moved Emily Spann to third base. Raymond stole second which allowed Spann to score on the throw . Raymond then stole third and scored on a wild throw to give the Lady Mustangs an early 2-0 lead. Walker Valley scored three more runs in the third inning before a seven run fourth inning ended the game.
LINESCORE
Cleveland 0 0 0 0 – 0 2 3
Walker Valley 0 2 3 7 – 12 15 0