Latta’s Lady Vikings cruised through the opening rounds of the Class A District VIII softball playoffs, earning a 19-0 win over Timmonsville on Thursday and an 18-0 win over Branchville on Saturday.

The Lady Vikings will advance to the district championship game on Wednesday, May 6, to face the winner of Monday night’s District VIII elimination game.

On Thursday, Latta hosted Timmonsville in round one, picking up six runs in the first inning, 10 in the second, and two in the third, capping the win with one run in the fourth.

Casey Prescott pitched two innings for the Vikings for no hits, two walks, and five outs, and Arica Gandy pitched three innings, giving up just one hit and one walk with five outs. Timmonsville’s Denetrice Epps took the loss, giving up 14 hits, 19 runs, 17 earned runs, 11 walks, and one hit by pitch.

At bat for the Vikings, Macy Hyatt went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, a stolen base, and three RBI; Madison Owens went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, one stolen base, three RBI, and four runs scored, also reaching on a walk and an error; Camryn Sawyer went 2-for2 with one RBI, two stolen bases, and three runs scored, also reaching on a walk and a hit by pitch; Kyra Grant went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI, two stolen bases, and one run scored, also reaching on a walk; Kaleigh Caulder went 2-for-2 with one RBI, three stolen bases, and three runs scored, also reaching on a walk; Dori Webster went 1-for-2 for a double with one RBI, one stolen base, and two runs scored, also reaching on two walks; Maddy Long went 1-for-3 with a double, one RBI, and one run scored, also reaching on a walk and getting a fielder’s choice hit; D’Anna Tanner went 1-for-1 with one run scored; Genesis Anderson drew four walks for two runs scored; and Brooke Carter scored two runs with a stolen base. Latta had 14 hits and two errors in the win.

For Timmonsville, Leondeia Robinson went 1-for-2 for the only hit and Justice Gee had a fielder’s choice hit. The Lady Whirlwinds had one error in the effort.
In round two on Saturday, Latta hosted Branchville, picking up five runs in the bottom of the first, nine in the second, and two each in the third and fourth to seal the 18-0 win.

Dori Webster got the win on the mound, pitching four innings for just one hit with four outs. Arica Gandy pitched one inning with no hits and one out. For Branchville, Jessie Funchess pitched all four innings for 15 hits, 16 runs, six earned runs, one walk, and one home run.

At bat for the Vikings, Madison Owens went 4-for-4 with a home run, two triples, a double, five RBI, and four runs scored; Macy Hyatt went 3-for-4 with two doubles for one RBI; Kyra Grant went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two stolen bases, also reaching on error and getting a fielder’s choice hit; Camryn Sawyer went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and two runs, also reaching on error; Genesis Anderson went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and one run, also getting a fielder’s choice hit; Kaleigh Caulder went 1-for-4 with one run, also reaching on error; Dori Webster went 1-for-4 with a double and one RBI, also reaching on error; Maddy Long went 1-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored, also getting two fielder’s choice hits; Kurstin Hopkins went 1-for-3 for a double with two runs scored, also reaching on two errors; Casey Prescott scored one run; and Brooke Carter scored two runs with two stolen bases.

For Branchville, Anna Crider went 1-for-2 with a fielder’s choice hit, and Funchess had a fielder’s choice hit. The Yellow Jackets had seven errors in the effort.