By By Matthew Nascone
The saying goes 'First impressions are everything' and the Northview Lady Chiefs wanted to make sure they made theirs on the crowd in Atmore for the Border War between NHS and the Escambia County Lady Blue Devils Monday afternoon.
The Lady Chiefs (8-6) scored seven runs in the first inning of the game and made their impression felt, but there was not another run scored in the game through the next six and a half innings, as NHS cruised to a 7-0 victory.
"Overall we had some girls hit the ball well today," NHS head coach Stephanie Elowsky said. "And we played good defense. I was proud of how they hustled out there."
Misty Lord, Kelly Digmon, Jill Kelley, Rachel Killam, Caitlin Spence, Candace Greenwell and Olivia Godwin each crossed the plate for NHS in the first inning.
Spence also pitched a two-hitter on the mound for the Lady Chiefs, striking out nine and walking four.
Courtney English and Jasmine Tolbert each had one hit for the Lady Blue Devils. The Lady Blue Devils had a couple situations with two runners on or bases loaded, but they could not push a run across the plate.
"We got ourselves in a couple of jams and I was proud of how the girls got out of those situations," Elowsky said. "We were fortunate to get out of a couple of those."
In the first and second inning Spence allowed two runners to reach base in each of the innings, but she struck out one batter to end the first inning and struck out three in a row in the second to get out of a bind.
After the second inning the game took an uneventful turn and neither team put more than one batter on base for the rest of the game.
The Lady Chiefs traveled to Baker, Fla. for a game yesterday and the results will be in an upcoming Advance. NHS will host ECHS in a rematch in Bratt tomorrow and the first pitch is set for 5:30 p.m.
The Lady Blue Devils faced rival W.S. Neal in East Brewton Tuesday and the results will be in an upcoming Advance.