Greene Central’s Laura Wade prepares to throw a pitch to South Lenoir’s Allie Parker in the first round of the NCHSAA 2A state playoffs. Photo by Junious Smith III / Neuse News

By Junious Smith III

DEEP RUN — Greene Central’s softball team garnered motivation from another team in a different sport to start the postseason Tuesday.

The conversation certainly helped as the Rams defeated South Lenoir 13-7 in the first round of the NCHSAA 2A state playoffs. No. 22 Greene Central (12-7) lost both meetings in the regular season, but turned the tables on No. 11 South Lenoir (10-7) in a wild contest.

“Before the game, Coach Kim (Jones) gave a great speech about the Carolina Hurricanes,” Abby Burress said. “They’re a team that started from the bottom and rising to the top, and now we’re trying to do the same thing.”

The Blue Devils had nine errors in the contest, including a two-out drop in the outfield to bring home two runs in the top of the first, followed by Madison Holloman’s RBI single to put the Rams up 3-0. South Lenoir countered in the bottom of the frame with a dropped third strike to bring home one run and a Greene Central error to narrow the gap. Kenly Hardison’s 2-run single in the second gave the Blue Devils a 4-3 advantage, but in the top of the third, Daly Keel hit a 2-run triple and the errant throw home allowed her to score and give the Rams the lead back.

South Lenoir’s Rebekah Howard hit an RBI single in the bottom of the third to bring the team within 6-5, but Greene Central added four in the fourth. The first five Rams reached base, highlighted by Amber Speight’s 2-run double and Burress’ RBI single. Another South Lenoir error put Greene Central ahead 10-5.

“We were trying to pick it up offensively after a slow start, and once we got the rally going we kept it up,” Speight said.

Logan Lucas’ 2-run single in the bottom of the fourth brought South Lenoir within 10-7, but Greene Central totaled three in the fifth for insurance. RBI singles from Elexie Sutton and Burress, along with an error to bring in another run, closed out the scoring.

Now, the Rams prepare for another road game, this time facing No. 6 Currituck County. Jones said the team will be ready for the challenge due to the tough competition in the Eastern Carolina Conference.

“The girls have had great team chemistry all year and the conference has helped us out,” Jones said. “South Lenoir is an awesome team and we knew we would be in for a battle today. Nothing’s going to change as far as our approach, and I’m proud of this group.”

For South Lenoir, Coach Lisa Smith said it wasn’t the way the team expected to end the season, but the team will look to improve in 2020.

“I hate it for the seniors (Hardison, Allie Parker and Samantha Sutton), but you have to give kudos to Greene Central,” Smith said. “They came in on fire and stayed that way. They made errors, but didn’t get down on themselves and kept going. For us, we know our seniors will go on to do great things in life and our other girls will step up.”