Lacy Walker makes her pitch.
photo by Dennis Norwood
You’ve just gone 3 for 4 at the plate, including a double and a homerun for 4 rbi; in the pitcher’s circle you’ve had your third game this week with 13 or better strike-outs. Is it Disney world that’s on your mind, or even the State softball championships? After another stellar performance Saturday with a defeat of Gordonsville High School, 11-2, Grace’s Laycee Walker called out to her mom and head coach Tina Walker, “Mom, hurry! I gotta study for an exam tomorrow.”
One has to believe that her ability to do a job and move on to the next task at hand is essential to her success as a junior hurler and hitter for the Lady Golden Eagles.
In Saturday night’s game against the Tigerettes, Miss Walker encountered some frustration on the mound. Through-out the game the Gordonsville batters would call time-out as she entered her wind-up. When the plate umpire granted the time-out and she stopped her wind-up accordingly, she would be hit with a balk. As the visiting squad made a habit of doing this, the hurler turned to her dad and pitching coach, Alan Walker for advice.
His advice… laugh about it. “When the frustration level began to grow, I turned it inward and put it to work for me,” she said after the game. She began looking in the dugout to get the sign from her dad, she said he would not call a pitch and they began to just have fun with it. Tina Walker explained afterwards that the umpire explained it as she stopped her momentum after she started. A natural reaction when the ump calls time-out, according to Head Coach Walker.
For the second straight year the Lady Golden Eagles defeated the Tigerettes to make it to the state championships at the Spring Fling in Murfreesboro. Last year’s win was a shut-out, 5-0. Gordonsville ends its season at 21-16.
Laycee Walker again led her team from the plate, capping off a three-hit night with one-on homerun shot over the left-centerfield fence. From the pitching mound she allowed seven hits against 14 strikeouts and no base on balls. The win pushed her personal record to 25-3. Grace, overall, is 30-6 going into the State championships.
Others highlighting the Lady Golden Eagle offense were first baseman Lexie Dean who was 2 for 3 with a double, two singles and two runs scored; Erika Goodman reached on three errors, making the Tigerettes pay each time as she scored thrice for Grace. Beth Cowart went 2 for 3 with a single, double and a sacrifice, scoring twice.
The first word from head coach Tina Walker, was a shouted, “Hallelujah! This is so sweet!” She was excited about her team going back-to-back in sectional championships, saying, “Once you go to State, you end up with a bullseye on your back. The girls worked unbelievable hours to make it back; it was hard work and this team deserves a lot of credit for making it.”
“I’m just so proud of them. They worked hard, they worked together and gave it their all – I’m just so proud of them.” As for tonight’s moments of frustration, she remarked, “The girls just fought through it. Give them the credit to make it through adversity.”
Gordonsville 000 020 0 2-7-4
Grace 340 103 X 11-12-1
G’ville – Lexie Randolph (LP) and Arielle Davis; Grace – Laycee Walker (WP) and R. Schrader.
Pitching Highlights: Randolph: 2 strikeouts, 1 base on ball, 12 hits; Walker: 14 strikeouts, 0 base on balls, 7 hits.
Hitting Highlights: Gordonsville: Stephanie Erkell – HR and 1b; Brittany Thornton – 2b and 1b
Grace: L. Walker – 1b, 2b, HR, 4 RBI; L. Dean – 2 1b, 2b; B. Cowart – 1b, 2b, SAC
(You are welcome to email Dennis Norwood at sportswriter56@comcast.net. You can follow him on Twitter at DennisENorwood.)
photo by Dennis Norwood