Midway junior pitcher Miranda Holmes had 13 strikeouts.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Midway’s varsity softball team opened its season with a win over visiting Rosewood, but Rosewood beat Midway in baseball and girls soccer on Monday.

All three Midway programs have new head coaches this season: Susan Clark in softball, Cory Barnes in baseball and Anna Naylor in girls soccer.

On the softball field, Midway took an 11-1 win in six innings over Rosewood behind some hot bats and a 13-strikeout night from junior pitcher Miranda Holmes.

“I was excited,” said Midway softball coach Susan Clark. “Of course, we’re excited about it all. The girls did great. Miranda did a superb job from the mound with 13 strikeouts. So, our defense, it made their job a whole lot easier. We’re going to have fun. Win or lose, this season we’re going to have a lot of fun. We knew these first games were going to be kind of tough. We started out with Cape Fear (a scrimmage). We did that on purpose just to kind of get their mind set and get them focused.”

Holmes pitched the complete game for Raiders (1-0), yielding one earned run on two hits and one walk, with 13 strikeouts.

“Miranda really hit her spots,” said Cullen Clark, Susan Clark’s husband, who shares coaching duties. “A lot of those girls (from Rosewood) are going to play big time college softball. Some of them are going to State, UNC-W and some others. The fact that she hit her spots was why she was so successful. She only gave up two hits and walked one batter all night, with 13 Ks. Ninety pitches total. So, that’s pretty good. And out of 90 pitches, she threw 60 strikes.”

Junior Jega Dapuyen had three hits and two runs scored to lead Midway at the plate.

Caitlyn Holland and Lainey Hughes each had two hits and one run scored. Sydney Williams had one hit and three runs scored. Rylie Williams, Chloe Baggett, Krista McLean and Bella Bryant scored one run apiece.

“Cullen likes to mix it up,” Susan Clark said. “Small ball. Big ball. Long ball.”

“They made a really good effort,” Cullen Clark added. “It was a team effort.”

Senior Laine Marak, an N.C. State signee, had a solo home run and junior Mackenzie Amodeo had one hit for the Eagles (0-1).

Midway scored six runs in the second inning, one in the fifth and four in the sixth. Rosewood’s lone run came on a solo shot from Marak in the fourth inning.

The scene was the opposite on the baseball field, where Rosewood took a 12-0 win in five innings over Midway.

“Tough night,” said Midway baseball coach Cory Barnes. “When it comes down to it, we’ve got to be good at the basics. That’s hitting the ball, throwing the ball, throwing strikes and making plays in the field. We didn’t do that too well tonight and it shows. The biggest thing is, our pitchers as a whole, our ball/strike ratio has got to be better. I think we’re about 50/50.

“We’ve got to be able to pound the zone. We had trouble doing that tonight consistently. We walked about nine people. I think they only had about five hits, we had three. When you walk that many people, you let people get on base, things happen. But we’ll rebound from this. We’ll come back out to work tomorrow, correct things that need to be corrected and move on. It’s one game in the season and it’s a long season.”

Eli Culbreth had a double and Cal Tyndall and Drew Matthews had one hit apiece for the Raiders (0-1).

Rosewood also took a 4-1 win over Midway on the soccer field.

Tania Martinez provided the lone goal for the Raiders (0-1).

Midway’s softball team travels to Cape Fear on Wednesday. Midway hosts South Johnston in girls soccer on Thursday. Midway is at Sampson County rival Lakewood in baseball, softball and girls soccer on Friday.

Midway third baseman Rylie Williams throws to first for an out.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Raiders catcher Jega Dapuyen snares a third strike.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Midway coach Cullen Clark confers with the Raider infielders.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Lainey Hughes drives in a run to end the game for Midway.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Jordan Wallum makes a save for the Raiders in girls soccer.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Cal Tyndall gets an infield single for the Raiders in baseball.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)