By Junious Smith III

Trust the process of Kinston softball.

Last year, the Vikings broke a 54-game skid spanning four seasons with a 4-3 win over Jones Senior on March 26 before picking up their first conference win April 11 defeating North Lenoir 21-14. Kinston couldn’t maintain the momentum, falling in the final six games of 2018 and first eight of 2019 before facing Robersonville South Creek on the road — one year to the day after beating the Hawks.

Kinston came out of Robersonville with a 17-12 win last week, its first of the season with its offensive explosion. The Vikings had scored just four runs prior to the matchup with the Cougars.

“We played South Creek last year and played them close in one meeting (falling 5-3),” Kinston coach Shonda Hines said. “We hadn’t been able to get the job done offensively, but once we were able to capitalize early, we found that confidence. If we can continue to find our way on offense, we’ll be fine because our defense has been pretty good all season.”

The Vikings have only two seniors on their roster — Brianna Brooks and Cierra Holloway — and the team has committed toward getting stronger as time progresses. Kinston junior Nikylah Williams said the goal is to be more competitive throughout.

"It's always about working harder in practice and staying consistent both offensively and defensively," Williams said.

Another Vikings junior, Alena Rivers, said there’s good chemistry, which is helping.

"It's taking some time, but we've got some great teammates helping out as we're all trying to get better," Rivers said. "We came out with a lot of high energy and if we keep that up, we're capable of winning more. With God, all things are possible.”