The Southern Wayne High School softball team finished regular-season play 10-10 overall and hope to earn a bid to the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
DUDLEY — Maybe those old-school uniforms are good luck.
Don’t expect Southern Wayne to put them away any time soon.
The Saints are 2-0 in their “new” digs after cruising past Wilson Fike, 15-7, in the Quad County 3A regular-season softball finale for both teams Friday evening.
“We found those uniforms in the field house and I took them home to clean them,” said SW alum and head coach Andy Sullivan, whose team wore them against Smithfield-Selma on Tuesday. “Those were the uniforms Southern Wayne wore during the year they won the [slow-pitch] state championship.”
Coached by Bob Warren at the time, the Saints donned blue jerseys with red lettering, red pants and blue socks. They defeated South Rowan for the 1992 Class 4A state title.
Now, back to Fike.
Southern Wayne led 4-0 after one inning.
The Golden Demons clawed their way back into the contest and grabbed a 7-5 lead in the top of the fifth inning.
The Saints tallied 10 unanswered runs that included a seven-run uprising in the bottom of the fifth inning. The late-game explosion sealed Southern Wayne’s fourth win in its last six outings.
Mckenzie Strickland and Gracie Hinson combined to crank out three extra-base hits for the Saints, who prevailed for the third time in their last five outings. Strickland finished 3-for-5 with three RBI, while Hinson batted 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Laura Summerlin and Megan Long provided two hits apiece.
Winning pitcher Reagan Stribble (two RBI), Morgan Brimberry (RBI) and Jocelin Aguilar (RBI) each contributed one hit. Jocelyn Bond and Kylie Barwick each recorded an RBI.
The Saints stole nine bases, including two each by Hinson, Brimberry and Barwick.
Stribble allowed seven runs (none earned) on eight issues, walked four and retired nine Golden Demons on strikeouts. She threw 88 strikes during her 118-pitch outing inside the circle.
Southern Wayne (10-10 overall, 8-6 QCC) posted a 10-win campaign for the first time since 2019. The Saints’ last eight-win season in conference play occurred in 2008 when they shared the Eastern Carolina 3A regular-season title with county rival Charles B. Aycock.
“Finishing 8-6 [in conference] is a fantastic start to a brand new day at Southern Wayne,” Sullivan said. “Our goal was to make the playoffs this year and we have a hard push to make it happen. My ladies never quit. They fight every pitch and every out. Hopefully, we have done enough to get in.”
