Lady Razors lose to rival Seneca

The Bobcats’ senior hurler pitched a complete game no-hitter, which included 12 strikeouts, in Seneca’s 5-0 victory over the Razorbacks in the teams’ non-region matchup in Walhalla.

The Razors will also host rival West-Oak on Wednesday and travel to Pendleton Friday, as each team is looking to take a hold of third place in the Skyline region standings.

March 21

Walhalla's Moran perfect in win over Eagles

Almost hidden behind her team’s gaudy offensive numbers, Walhalla High School softball pitcher Alex Moran put on the best game of her young career on Thursday evening.

In just her seventh career starting assignment at the varsity level, the eighth grader pitched a perfect game, which included 9 strikeouts in the Razors’ five-inning, 15-0 win over Tamassee-Salem.

Walhalla (6-2, 3-2 Skyline AA) used Moran primarily as a slap-hitter and pinch-runner a season ago, and Razors’ head coach John Chmelar said he’s been extremely pleased with her work on the mound so far this year.

“She’s been doing a good job for us all year,” he said. “As an eighth grader, she does everything I ask her to do. She locates her pitches well, and she has a couple of different ones she can control. She’s not overpowering, but she hits her spots and does a great job for us.”

Tamassee-Salem (1-3, 0-2) struggled mightily to even put the ball in play against Moran, who Eagles’ head coach Leigh Ann Thomas said was impressive on the mound.

“She’s very accurate and very good,” she said. “Unfortunately, we just couldn’t connect. We got some pieces of some stuff, but just couldn’t get it all to work out.”

The Razors were almost equally impressive on offense as Moran was on the hill, scoring 14 runs across the second and third innings for most of their damage on the evening.

Senior Ally Watt got the scoring started with an RBI single to score Paige Lyda, who was pinch running for catcher Caitlin Sauer.

With a 3-0 lead four batters later, Halie Chambers throttled a pitch into the gap in the left field with the bases loaded to give the Razors a commanding 6-0 advantage.

Chambers went on to score on a wild pitch two batters later before a throwing error plated Watt and Sauer for a 9-0 lead.

Following an RBI single by Moran in the fourth, an error in right field allowed Tish Winchester and Moran to score for a 12-0 lead before the Razors scored three more runs to round out the scoring.

Many of the Eagles’ woes can be traced back to the loss of pitcher Malorie Smith, who has handled the starting role for the past three years. She suffered an elbow injury during a preseason tournament, and has an appointment with her doctor next week to check her progress.

Thomas said her injury wasn’t as severe as previously thought, and hopes to have Smith back soon to get the team’s regular lineup back in action.

With her absence, there have been shifts all around the diamond in personnel, and it has taken some time for everyone to get comfortable with the changes.

“Most of them are coming around,” Thomas said. “We’re having a little trouble behind the plate, but I think we’re getting in a groove there. I really think they’re all falling into the groove. I think just getting it in their minds that they can do it that way is difficult.”

The scenario at Walhalla is obviously much different, as Moran and Walhalla appear to have their plate set for a run at the Skyline title.

Chmelar also hopes to have his battery set for years to come, as he’s excited about the youth he has in Moran and Sauer behind the plate.

“It’s good because the catcher (Sauer) is a freshman, so the two of them have played a lot together and they’ll play three or more years together at least, so we feel pretty good about the pitcher-catcher battery we have going on,” he said.

With those two expected to be in the starting lineup once again, Walhalla will travel to region foe Abbeville on Tuesday in an attempt to split the season series.

The last time the two clubs met, the Razors managed only one hit in a 4-0, extra-inning loss at home.

The Eagles will also be in action Tuesday, hosting the Seneca junior varsity team in Salem at 5:30 p.m.

Walhalla 15, Tamassee-Salem 0 (five innings)

T-S 000 00 — 0 0 2

WHS 095 1X — 15 7 0

Pitching

IP H R K BB

W —Moran 5 0 0 9 0

L —K. Grogan 3 6 14 1 9

Hitting

T-S — none

WHS — Chambers, 1-2, 3B, 3 RBI; Waldron, 3-3, 2B, 2 RBI

March 15

Warriors rally late for a 5-3 win over rival Walhalla on Friday in Westminster. Tish Winchester and Casey Long each went 2-4 for Walhalla in the game.