Walker Tosses Two-Hitter As Grace Advances To State

Lady Golden Eagles Eliminate Gordonsville With 5-0 Victory

  • Friday, May 15, 2009
  • John Hunt
Grace Academy senior Mara Reeves watches as she gets a fly ball to drop in for a hit in the Lady Eagle's 5-0 win over Gordonsville Friday.
Grace Academy senior Mara Reeves watches as she gets a fly ball to drop in for a hit in the Lady Eagle's 5-0 win over Gordonsville Friday.
photo by Ken Wallace

Lacye Walker thrives on pressure situations, especially when a softball game is involved.

There really wasn’t any pressure on the 16-year-old sophomore Friday afternoon when she stepped into the pitcher’s circle for Grace Academy’s sectional game with the Gordonsville Tigerettes.

With a berth in next week’s TSSAA Spring Fling on the line, Walker did what she does best and that’s pitch winning softball.

By her own admission, she had one of her best performances of the season as the Lady Golden Eagles advanced with the methodical 5-0 victory.

The win improves their record to 31-7-2 while the defeat ends Gordonsville’s season with a record of 17-12.

“No doubt she’s a very good pitcher,” praised Gordonsville coach Jonathan Bush afterward.

“We knew from the scouting report that she keeps the ball low and that she’s very good. The report was right on target.

“They also have a sound offense, but it all starts with the Walker girl. They put the ball in play and forced us to make the plays.

“We only lose two seniors from this year’s team, so we’ll be back, but we’re proud to be here today,” Bush added.

The Tigerettes never really threatened in this game, although they had several scoring opportunities.

An error and a walk in the second inning put two runners on, but they were stranded at second and third when Walker got the second out on a grounder to first and a strikeout to end the threat.

Brittany Thornton walked to lead off the fourth, but Walker struck out the next three to avoid further trouble.

Morgan Dillard reached on a one-out single in the sixth, but that threat ended when she was thrown out trying to steal second.

Stefanie Edgell reached on a single to lead off the seventh, but Megan Tayse lined into a double play before Walker struck out the final hitter to end the game.

Meanwhile, Grace scored two runs in the third before added two more in the fourth and one in the fifth.

Courtney Patrick led off the third with a walk and later scored on an error while Bethany Cowart reached on that error and later scored on a fielder’s choice by Kaitlyn Eldridge.

Noel Bartley reached in the fourth when the third strike got away from the catcher.

She went to second on a single by Patrick. A fielder’s choice by Cowart plated Bartley with the first run while a groundout by Walker made it 4-0 after Patrick scored.

Reagan Schrader reached on a one-out single in the fifth and later scored on a fielder’s choice by Mara Reeves.

Walker finished with a two-hit shutout as she struck out 12 and walked two.

Courtney Maynard was the starter for Gordonsville and she suffered the loss after allowing five runs on five hits. She walked three and struck out three.

Walker improved to 17-1-1 for the season and she was happy after helping her team win the biggest game of the season so far.

“We did really well today. We came out pumped and ready to play. This was one of my better games, but this is our first time to qualify for the state and we’re all excited,” she expressed.

Grace coach Tina Walker, who just happens to be Lacye’s mother, was more excited than anyone.

“I’m just so excited for these girls as it’s been a long time coming. We’ve been in this situation before, but things fell our way today.

“We executed well. We know it’s easy to get overwhelmed in a situation like this, so we tried to stay focused on being relaxed and playing our game.

“We knew that our pitching was sound, but Lacye was on her game today,” the Grace coach nodded with a smile.

Grace finished with five hits, but Walker’s double in the sixth was the only one that went for extra bases.

Schrader, Reeves, Bartley and Patrick all had one single apiece for the Lady Golden Eagles.

Gordonsville 000 000 0 – 0 2 3
Grace 002 210 x – 5 5 1
Maynard and Grisham; Walker and Schrader.

(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)

photo by Ken Wallace
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