By Chris McCarthy/Editor
Brittany Williams pitched a no-hitter through four innings as Class 6A No. 1 Southside defeated Briarwood Christian, 8-0, on Tuesday (Apr. 7) at SHS.
Williams allowed two walks while striking out seven to notch the win. She sent down the side in order in the third and fourth innings and retired the last seven Lady Lion batters she faced.
Williams faced minor trouble in the top of the second when the visitors had runners on first and second with two outs. But she fanned the next batter to end the threat.
The Lady Panthers (22-2) provided Williams all the support she needed in the bottom of the first when Britney Kidd’s base hit plated Savannah Elkins.
Southside pushed its advantage to four runs in the following inning, courtesy of RBI singles from Kidd and Claire Graves and an RBI groundout by Paiden Kircus.
Hunter Ashcraft, Emily Coker and Graves scored in the bottom of the fourth to make it 7-0. Yancey came home on a fielding error in the fifth to cap the scoring.
Yancey, who pitched the final three innings, started off by fanning the side in the top of the fifth inning. She got out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the sixth by inducing a flyout to leftfield and allowed a base hit in the seventh before shutting the door. Yancey finished with for strikeouts.
“We played well today,” said SHS head coach Angie Sanders. “I don’t recall playing Brairwood before, and their team and their fans were very respectful. We don’t play again until the county tournament on Saturday, so we’ll get in some much-needed practice time and work on fundamentals.”
At the plate for the hosts, Graves went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Kidd went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Ashcraft, Elkins and Yancey each went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.