LAURINBURG — Carver Middle School’s softball team is the 2019 Southeastern Middle School Athletic Conference champion.
The Lady Eagles defeated Rockingham 5-2 on Wednesday.
“When we came in Monday, I told the eighth-grade girls that they had an opportunity to finish their middle school careers undefeated,” head coach Casey Bormet said after her team claimed the title. “I think that meant a lot to those girls. I told the seventh-graders that this is their opportunity to start their middle school career undefeated.
“Knowing that going in, it meant a whole lot to them.”
Sydnee Dial earned the win in the circle for the Lady Eagles. She allowed three hits while striking out seven batters in seven innings. Carver’s Laela Oxendine, Jenna Luquer, Natalie Smith and Summer Newton each had an RBI.
Bormet said the Lady Eagles fought through adversity during several games this year, but they found ways to overcome early deficits and recover from errors. She said that helped the team pull through on Wednesday, and it will continue to help the players in the future.
“They’re very mentally tough,” Bormet said. “That’s hard to teach in softball and baseball, being able to come back. On Monday we were down until the fourth inning, and they were able to battle back. It makes my job a lot easier when they have that mentality.”
Rockingham wins baseball title
An error by Carver helped Rockingham score the go-ahead run in the sixth inning as the Eagles lost 3-2 in the SEMSAC championship game on Wednesday. It was Carver’s first loss in two years.
“They looked like they were a little tense for pretty much the whole game,” Carver coach Rodney Patterson said. “We didn’t make some plays when we had to make them.
“We had our chances at the plate too, and kids went down looking,” he added. “You can’t do that in baseball. You have to battle with two strikes, and at least put the ball in play.”
Patterson addressed the snapped winning streak with his team after the game.
“They learned how to handle winning. After two years, it’s kind of hard to learn how to handle defeat,” Patterson said. “That’s what my postgame speech was about, how to deal with losing.
“You play enough baseball, you’re going to lose some games. They’ve just got to learn how to deal with that.”
