Greene Central softball off to another hot start

Greene Central’s Laura Wade prepares to throw a pitch in Tuesday’s contest against North Lenoir. Photo by William ‘Bud’ Hardy / Neuse News

LA GRANGE — Greene Central’s softball team is in a familiar position: starting the season strong.

The Rams defeated North Lenoir Tuesday 15-6 to improve to 5-1. For the fourth straight year under Greene Central coach Kim Jones, the team has started this well, and despite losing a trio of stalwarts in Hannah Burress, Aniyah Jones and Mahkala Jones to graduation, the team has continued to roll.

“It’s a great way to start the year because we’re so young in spots,” Jones said. “We’ve had girls step into new positions and continue to produce, and our offense has always been strong. There are plenty of players who had to wait their turn because of other starters and now that they’ve graduated, there’s opportunity for them to show what they can do.”

Despite being shut out in its only loss — a 6-0 defeat to Washington — Greene Central is averaging 11.3 runs per contest. The Rams broke open Tuesday’s game with a 10-run fifth.

“It took a little while, but we started putting the bat on the ball after the fourth inning and it continued from there,” Greene Central’s Daly Keel said.

Keel was one of six Rams to get multiple hits in Thursday’s game, including Elixie Sutton who went 4-of-5 with a double and an RBI. Abby Burress went 2 for 5 with a triple and two RBIs, and said the team has been solid throughout.

“Our chemistry has been pretty good on and off the field,” Burress said.

Greene Central hopes to keep the momentum going in the postseason, where the team is 3-3 over the past three years with a third-round appearance in 2016. Allison Wade said the team has the ability to build upon the legacy late as well.

“As long as we play together, staying strong on offense and defense, we can go as far as anyone out there,” Wade said.