Winston County Journal Getting the first win is always the most important for a season and even more-so for this year’s Winston Academy softball team. With the loss of several players due to precaution of COVID-19, Charlie Smith is looking for all the help he can get. Playing a challenging schedule is cause for even more hands on deck and his team bounced back from a couple of losses to star the season. After losing a game in the Clinton Christian tournament last weekend, the Lady Pats were back in action with a three-game week on the road. It turns out the road was a good thing for Smith’s young team. There was a speed bump in the way at Pillow Academy where the youth and inexperience showed in the form of several mistakes. WA had nine errors that proved far more costly than the 7-4 hit disparity as they would lose 11-3 to Pillow on Tuesday night. A six-run third inning was the big blow in the loss. Mayson Smith drove in two of the runs in the loss for the Lady Pats. The good thing for WA is they had a chance to get right back out on the field on Thursday as they traveled to Winona Christian. The Stars had already dispatched Starkville Academy and Oak Hill Academy in the first week of the schedule and did so rather handedly. But this time, the Lady Pats were not going to be denied. Behind just one error this time around, WA pounded out 12 hits and freshman pitcher Anna Grace Whitehead threw an absolute gem to lead the team to a 7-1 victory. WA jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back as Whitehead was locked in from the start. The ninth grader had a complete game with just one hit, one run, three walks and 13 strikeouts. Laura Vowell had two hits in the game and two RBI, Whitehead hit a two-run home run and the team also had two hits each from Morgan Woods and Madi Lee. Whitehead was back at it again on Friday when the Lady Pats won 7-2 at Newton County Academy. She threw 7.0 more innings, gave up four hits, zero earned runs, walked four batters and struck out seven. She added two hits, one of those being a double, as WA moved to 2-2 on the season. With momentum now, the Lady Patriots aren’t letting up this week. They played conference opponent Heritage at home on Tuesday with a game that happened after press time. They will also travel to Kirk Academy on Thursday, come home and host Newton County Academy on Friday at 6:30 and then play in the Canton Academy Tournament on Saturday against Discovery Christian at 10:30 a.m. and Canton at 2 p.m.
