North Shelby Wins Season Opener

By Troy Treasure

  Pitching was the force multiplier as North Shelby and Brashear opened their 2020 softball seasons Thursday, Sept. 3.

  Lady Tigers’ freshman Alexa Borgmeyer and NS sophomore Natalie Thrasher combined for 23 strikeouts in the Lady Raiders 2-0 win at North Shelby.

  Pitching was so dominant; the two teams managed four hits. Brashear’s Hannah Grissom ended Thrasher’s no-hit bid with a solid seventh-inning single to left field.

  NS took a 1-0 lead in the second inning sparked by Thrasher’s lead-off single to right field. Courtesy runner Zoe Barrick stole second base. She later scored on a throwing error. Borgmeyer buckled down. Facing runners at second and third with no outs, she struck out three North Shelby batters.

  The Lady Raiders added another run in the fifth. With two out, Hannah Wahl nursed a walk out of Borgmeyer. Chesnie Robbins followed with a single to center advancing Wahl to third base. Shortly thereafter, Wahl scored on a wild pitch.

  Thrasher’s day in the circle ended with one hit, 11 strikeouts and 0 walks. She induced nine ground-ball outs. The first 17 Lady Tigers Thrasher faced either grounded out or struck out. The 18th, catcher Aubrey Borgmeyer, fouled out to Lady Raiders’ catcher Marissa McEwen.

  Alexa Borgmeyer yielded three hits, struck out 12 with three walks.

  NS coach Haley Hardy, while giving the Brashear pitcher credit, indicated the Lady Raiders pack more punch offensively than they showed in the opener.

  “You could tell we had a little nerves when we were up there in the box,” Hardy said. “Goodness gracious, we hit and we hit and we hit and we hit in practice.”