“The Randleman athletic director called early this year to get us on their schedule,” Mustang coach Sammy McNeill said. “I was looking forward to playing them. When you give our team a challenge, they’ll step up to meet it, and they did that today.”
The challenge for the visiting Mustangs, ranked second in the state 1-A rankings, came from a Randleman team ranked seventh in the 2-A state standings.
Garner came through with a four for five effort, including two home runs that left the park, knocking in six of the Mustangs runs in the non-conference win. Both teams entered the contest sporting undefeated marks.
Thanks to Garner’s bat, and 11 other hits provided by the Mustangs, and the pitching of Heidi McNeill, the Mustangs were the only undefeated team left standing when the dust had cleared. North Moore is 8-0 overall and 7-0 in the Yadkin Valley Conference.
The game lived up to its billing in the early innings. Randleman, now 7-1 overall, took an early lead, putting one run on the board in the bottom of the first, as the leadoff batter walked, moved to third on a bunt, and then scored on a passed ball.
North Moore bounced right back, taking a 2-1 lead in the top of the second. Kristin Brown got the rally rolling when she reached on a single before moving to second on a Kelly Goforth groundout. Megan McNeill smacked a run-scoring double, then used trickery on the base paths to score the Mustang’s second run. She moved to third on a walk to Bianca Alsobrook then raced home on a passed ball.
However, the Tigers came back with two more runs in the bottom of the second, as the first three batters all singled, loading the bases. Two runs scored on an overthrow at first base, giving Randleman a 3-2 lead at the end of two innings of play.
It would be the last lead of the game for the Tigers.
Heidi McNeill started off the top of the third inning with a double that hit the fence in left field. She moved to third on a fielder’s choice, as Logan Monroe grounded out, and scored on Garner’s RBI single to left field. Brown singled, moving Garner to third, and then Garner scored on a fielder’s choice as Goforth grounded out.
Randleman did not score in the bottom of the third, leaving the Mustangs ahead 4-3.
In the top of the fourth inning, Emily Brewer singled, and Ashley Marley moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt. Brewer scored on Heidi McNeill’s double to left field.
Once again, the Mustangs shut down Randleman in the bottom of the frame, leaving the visitors on top 5-3.
In the top of the fifth inning, Garner singled and moved to second, as Brown was safe at first on an error. Both runners advanced when Goforth grounded out. Megan McNeill singled, scoring Garner and Brown, advancing to second on the throw to the plate. She eventually scored on a single to right field by Alsobrook to give North Moore an 8-3 lead.
Again, the Mustangs threw a goose egg at the Tigers in the bottom of the inning. Then Garner unleashed the big lumber on Randleman in the next two innings.
In the sixth, Logan Monroe reached on a walk. Garner then hit a towering home run over the fence in left-center field to drive in two more runs for the Mustangs. Randleman scored one run on a single and a triple in the bottom of the sixth inning, but North Moore still had a handy 10-4 lead.
The top of the seventh inning produced some more Garner-time for the Mustangs. Jasmine Covington began the inning with a single, Marley singled, and both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Heidi McNeill.
Garner, who will play softball for Campbell University next season, blasted her second home run of the game, this time a line drive that cleared the fence in left-center field to score three more runs for North Moore.
Randleman went down in order in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving the Mustangs the nine-run win.
Heidi McNeill went the distance on the mound for North Moore, giving up seven hits, striking out four batters and walking one. Her record is now 5-0 for the season, and 4-0 in the conference.
The Mustangs return to their conference schedule when they play East Montgomery at home today.
