By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
CHOCOWINITY — Thanks to another outstanding performance on the mound by freshman sensation Savannah Mumford, coupled with a couple key at bats by the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters in the lineup, the Southside Seahawks are heading to somewhere they’ve never been before in school history.
Mumford fired a four-hit shutout, while Marlene Edwards ripped a triple and Becki Poole’s groundout scored her with the game’s lone run in a 1-0 victory over the East Carteret Mariners. Tuesday’s third-round victory, Southside’s first in school history, means the Seahawks will be home Friday to face Four Rivers Conference rival, Williamston, in the fourth round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A state playoffs.
“I’m really proud of them,” Southside coach John Lohman said.
Southside (19-4) beat Williamston (17-7), the conference’s No. 2 seed, both times during the regular season. Williamston advanced with a 4-0 victory over Pamlico.
The Seahawks, the Four Rivers Conference champions, picked up their second straight shutout thanks to Mumford. The hard-throwing, unshakable freshman fanned nine and scattered four hits. During this postseason, Mumford has not allowed a run, yielded seven hits and struck out 20 batters in 16 innings of work.
“We made the plays defensively and Savannah did an excellent job pitching again tonight,” Lohman said. “I think the bigger the game, the more she wants it.”
Mumford said the Seahawks will have to continue playing at a high level in order to advance.
“We just have to keep doing the same thing we’ve been doing,” Mumford said. “We have to keep our defense up and our bats up.”
Southside scored the only run it would need in the third inning. Edwards, a freshman who is hitting around .225 on the season, drilled a one-out triple into deep left field.
Poole, Southside’s No. 9 batter, brought Edwards home with a groundout to the shortstop.
That made a tough-luck loser out of Mariner pitcher Dayvee Edwards, who scattered five hits and struck out six.
“That’s teamwork,” Lohman said. “When eight and nine can produce the run you need and the rest of the team plays defense and Savannah pitches as good as she does, that’s what it takes. It’s going to be different people on different nights and that’s beautiful. That’s what you want out of a team.”
Edwards (2-2) had two of Southside’s hits. Kristen Ayers (1-2), Mumford (1-3) and Shakeria Lomax (1-3) also had hits.
The Mariners (17-5), the Coastal Plains champions, had some opportunities. However, they stranded a runner at third in the second inning, a runner at second in the third inning and runners at first and second in the sixth.
Daniels (1-3), Elizabeth Lewis (1-3), Shelby Clarke (1-3) and Megan Doyle (1-2) had East Carteret’s hits.