After a dominating performance Wednesday, it would have been hard for Catawba Ridge softball pitcher Chloe Burger to top her performance against Westside, but she did just that Thursday.
Burger threw a one-hitter Wednesday against Westwood and struck out 18 in a 6-0 win for the Copperheads. She came back Thursday and threw a no-hitter and struck out 12 against Westside in a five-inning 10-0 win. The win puts Catawba Ridge in the District championship next Wednesday where they would only have to win once to advance to the Upper State playoffs.
“Our focus is in the right place,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Michael Kidd. “Momentum is a huge thing. We are going to ride it as long as we can”
The win puts the Copperheads at 22-4 overall on the season. Catawba Ridge offensively took some time to heat up, but once they did, they were off to the races.
Catawba Ridge scored in the second inning off a passed ball to go up 1-0 and then rode that lead until the fifth inning where they scored seven runs on five hits to blow the game open.
In the fifth inning, Audrey Wilson opened things up with a two-run double, which was followed by a single from Braylon Lawrence, an RBI triple from Sarah Rocheleau and a solo home run from Kendra Murray.
Then with a comfortable 8-0 lead, Burger was able to work with confidence and sailed for the rest of the game. She did give up a walk in the third to the lead off hitter of the inning, but left her stranded on first. A Copperheads error allowed another base runner in the fifth inning who was also stranded on first as well to end things. Burger went over the 200-strikeout mark on the season in the fourth inning to add to her historic night.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Rocheleau walked the game off with a two-run double scoring Ally Testerman and Wilson. Rocheleau went 4-4 in the game with three RBI to lead Catawba Ridge.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
