Myrtle Beach Softball Recap
Carrie Chisholm photographs the LCHS softball team on the beach.
May 2, 2022
The Louisa Lions softball team travels to Myrtle Beach every two years to play in the Grand Strand Softball Classic Tournament. This is the first time the team has been able to go since Covid-19. They ended the week with two wins and three losses.
On Monday, they lost 1-0 in nine innings against Greenbrier Christian Academy, Virginia. Junior, Emily Gillespie threw a perfect game. Freshman, Alyssa Hopkins, sophomore, Savannah Bragg, and senior, Maddox Pleasants each had a hit.
The following day, Louisa won 6-5 against Vestal Golden Bears, New York. Freshman, Kourtney Kidd hit a single that scored two runs in the fourth inning. Junior, Dara Sharpe scored two runs when she hit a triple, Hopkins and Gillespie followed with singles in the fifth inning.
The Lions won 10-1 against Madison Middletown, Ohio on Wednesday. Sharpe went 3-4 at the plate with a single, double, and triple. She scored three times and had four players score off of her hits.
They faced Payton List, a Virginia Tech commit on Thursday with the Beaver Bobcats, Pennsylvania. They put up a tough fight but lost 3-1. Pleasants went 2-4 at the plate. The Lions scored after Sharpe hit a single, stole on a passed ball, then got hit in by Hopkins.
On Friday, they played the Riverside Beavers, Ohio, and lost 9-0. Bragg and Kidd had the only hits of the game.
Gillespie carried the team defensively by starting on the mound all five games of the tournament. Gillespie struck out 54 batters over the course of the tournament.
Some of the Lions feel the biggest take-away is the mental growth after playing all week.
“I feel that we controlled our mental states very well and we grew more confident as the week progressed,” Sharpe said.
Other Lions feel the biggest takeaway of the week is the growth in relationships between teammates.
“We did a good job of keeping the energy up, not biting each other’s heads off, and we grew more as a team. We have much more confidence in each other and I feel like now we have more fun playing” Hopkins said.
