Lauren Wells turned into a home run machine Thursday night against Tylertown.
All it took was a lucky bat.
The junior was 4 for 4, blasted three home runs and finished with seven RBIs to lead the North Pike softball team to a 12-0 district win in five innings over Tylertown, which avenged a 4-3 loss last month in Tylertown.
Oh, and she struck out nine batters and nearly registered a no-hitter with a one-hit shutout on the mound.
The bat was dusted off for the first time this week since the slowpitch softball season in the fall. Wells used it to crush the ball then, so when she needed a spark, the lucky bat found its way into her hands.
“I hit a lot of (home runs) then and I liked it, so I said I was going to use it (Thursday),” the junior said with a smile. “I used it last game and hit it over then, too. I’m going to use it (tonight against McComb).”
Wells recorded a home run in Tuesday’s win over Columbia and finished with three RBIs, so the bat is officially here to stay.
“It’s a mental thing,” North Pike coach Sonya Wallace said. “She’s gotten back positive with her hitting. She started out the season hitting well and had a couple games where she slacked off, but she’s back seeing the ball well and hitting like she should be.”
Wells currently sports a .323 average to go along with five home runs and 23 RBIs. She had one homer and 13 RBIs in the Jaguars’ first 15 games. In the past two games she’s racked up four homers and 10 RBIs.
Wells, who matched North Pike baseball player Jacob Fleming’s three home run performance from last week, led off the game Thursday with a solo blast to center field to give North Pike a 1-0 lead. After striking out five batters in the next two innings, Wells added to the lead in the bottom of the second inning when she chased home Sarah Brock with an RBI double to left center field and made it 3-0.
The second home run came on a towering fly ball in the third inning that barely cleared the fence. The two-run shot gave the Jaguars a commanding 9-0 lead. She finished things off in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run shot to center that ended the game via the 10-run rule.
“After the first one, I was like, ‘I want to do it again,’ ” said Wells, who noted she didn’t think a third was possible. “Not really. I had planned on it but I thought, ‘I’m not going to do this.’ ”
As a team, North Pike (12-5, 5-1) banged out 12 hits and received multi-hit games from Savannah Johnston and Brock. Rickera Martin also had a big hit in the second inning when her bases-clearing double put North Pike up 6-0. The other RBI came from Jana McEwen in the first inning when she looped a double down the left field line to score Felder.
North Pike’s 12-0 win was quite the statement, considering the letdown the Jags experienced in the March 19 loss to Tylertown.
“We played better as a team. Last game, we weren’t in it and we took them for granted,” Wells said. “We were trying to make a statement with district and everything and show everybody we can win. We were just getting them back.”
Tylertown looked overmatched from the start and committed four errors during the game. To make things worse, the Chiefs were on the verge of being no-hit in the top of the fifth inning before April Dixon’s two-out hit to right field ended the bid.
Keely Fortenberry took the loss for Tylertown, allowing 12 runs (eight earned).
“We’ve learned our lesson from that game against Tylertown and hopefully we’ll continue to win and play well through the rest of our division games,” Wallace said.
