Lady Yoe move to 5-1 in district play
The Lady Yoe softball team defeated Lexington and Florence and fell to Academy to move to 5-1 in district play this week.
The Lady Yoe traveled on the road to play the Lexington Lady Eagles on Wednesday, March 23.
Cameron was able to shut out Lexington 4-0. In the first inning, the Lady Yoe got their offense started when Mia Wimmer (14) doubled on a line drive to left field, scoring one run. Cameron scored again on an RBI (runs batted in) groundout by Navaeh Billingsley (15) to send Wimmer home to make the lead 2-0.
“It always relaxes kids a little to get on top first,” Coach Chris Sommerfield said. “Plus, we had not played since last Monday and it helped find our groove.”
The top of the first inning ended on a groundout. Zayda Spillers (13) came to the mound in the bottom of the first inning and allowed a leadoff single, but that runner would be tagged out stealing second. That play was made off a strong throw by the catcher, Wimmer and a great catch and tag by the shortstop, Lauren Harris (1). Cameron then got two more outs to end the first inning. The Lady Yoe were unable to add to their lead in the top of the second inning. Spillers came back on the mound for the bottom of the second inning and allowed a leadoff single. She responded with three straight strikeouts to close out the bottom of the second inning. Cameron didn’t score in the top of the third inning. Spillers backed up her team on the mound and pitched a shutout third inning.
Cameron’s offense sputtered and was unable to score in the top of the fourth inning. Spillers came back on the mound and pitched lights out with a clean fourth inning. Lindsay Talafuse (11) came to bat in the top of the fifth inning and led off with an infield single, then stole second base then stole third. She had to stay at third base on an infield single by Camryn Ward (4) but came home on an RBI groundout by Wimmer to make it a 3-0 lead. That was followed with an RBI double by Spillers to give the Lady Yoe a 4-0 lead. Brooklyn McCall (8) came in for Spillers as a pinch runner but could not score as the top of the fifth inning ended on a line out. Spillers came back to the mound to pitch the bottom of the fifth inning and allowed a leadoff single. That runner would steal second base then was tagged out by Billingsley attempting to steal third base.
The bottom of the fifth inning ended on a fly out. Harris came to bat in the top of the sixth inning and reached first on a fielding error and advanced to second base on a passed ball. She would not score as the top of the sixth inning ended on a groundout. Spillers retuned to the mound and gave up a two out infield bunt single. That was all for the Lexington base runners in the sixth inning as the inning ended on a fly out.
Cameron came to bat in the top of the seventh inning and was unable to score. Spillers returned to the mound for the bottom of the seventh inning and allowed a leadoff double. She buckled down to get three more outs and seal the 4-0 shutout victory. Spillers took the win for Cameron. She surrendered no runs on four hits over seven innings, striking out seven and allowing no walks. She was also backed up by a great defense that played outstanding the whole game.
“We played with great tempo and confidence. Zayda was hitting spots. It’s a great combination,” Sommerfield said.
The next game for Cacmeron was the Florence Lady Buffaloes on Friday, a game that Summerfield feels they will win if they play well in three phases: Pitching, defense and hitting.
Cameron dominated Florence 15-0 in four innings. Cameron opened up the scoring in the first inning. Navaeh Billingsley hit a single, scoring the first run and went on to score three total runs for an early 3-0 lead.
The Lady Yoe scored five more runs in the second inning for an 8-0 lead. The big second inning came from a single by Camryn Ward, Ka’Sara Brooks and Zayda Spillers, a sacrifice fly by Navaeh Billingsley, and a fielding error by Florence.
After scoring one run in the third inning, Cameron scored six runs in the fourth inning. The Lady Yoe explosive offense in the inning was led by Lindsay Talafuse, Mia Wimmer, Zayda Spillers, and Tatiana Aragonez, who each had RBIs in the inning. Cameron collected 13 total hits. Mia Wimmer, Lauren Harris, and Ka’Sara Brooks all had multiple hits for the Lady Yoe. Wimmer led the team with three hits in four at bats. Spillers earned the win on the mound for Cameron. She pitched lights out and allowed just one hit and no runs over four innings, striking out eight and no walks.
The next game for Cameron was on the road on Tuesday against the Academy Lady Bees. Cameron was defeated by Academy in a tough 7-6 loss for their first district loss of the season. They will host the Rockdale Lady Tigers on Friday.