BLYTHEWOOD – April has been very good for the Westwood softball team.
The Redhawks rode a five-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s doubleheader against Region 5-4A rival Richland Northeast, and swept the Cavaliers 20-1 and 12-0.
Those wins, along with a 17-1 victory over Ridge View April 19, a 14-11 win over Irmo Friday, and a 13-2 win over South Pointe Monday, vaulted Westwood (13-5, 6-3) into a third-place showing in the region standings behind A.C. Flora and Lugoff-Elgin.
Izzy Ridgeway got the win in game one Tuesday, giving up one hit and striking out three in her three innings of work. Makayla Drakeford, who picked up three wins in the past week, pitched four innings of one-hit ball and struck out seven in Tuesday’s nightcap.
“If they’re pitching well, and our defense can make some plays, we’re going to be in every game,” Westwood head coach James Edmondson said. “Just that extra push over the edge is the hitting, and hitting wise, they’ve responded well.”
Edmondson said a big reason for the solid April is that Westwood faced the two best teams in the region, the Falcons and the Demons, early on. The Redhawks are 6-0 against Irmo, Ridge View and Richland Northeast. They split the series with Flora and lost both games to Lugoff-Elgin.
“We kind of hit cruise control at the end, but we’re also just hitting the ball really well,” Edmondson said. “The two wins against Irmo was the really big turning point.”
The Redhawks finished the regular season with a road game at South Pointe Wednesday.
The 4A state playoffs begin Tuesday, and no matter how Westwood places in the district tournaments, Edmonson said he looks forward to seeing the team play.
“They’ve had it all along, it just took us a little while to get going,” he said.
April 19
WESTWOOD – 0-7-3-0-7 – 17, 14, 2
RIDGE VIEW – 0-0-1-0-0 – 1, 2, 8
W: Makayla Drakeford.
W: Olivia Burroughs 4-4, 2 RBI. Azaria Belton 2-3, 3 RBI. Anna Graves 2-4. Taylor Blevines 2B.
THURSDAY
IRMO – 2-6-1-0-0-0-2 – 11, 9, 9
WESTWOOD – 4-3-6-1-0-0-X – 14, 9, 6
W: Makayla Drakeford
W: Izzy Ridgeway 2-3, 2 RBI. Olivia Burroughs 2-4, 2 RBI. Jada McConnell 2-4. Anna Belton 2-5. P Horton 2B.
MONDAY
SOUTH POINTE – 0-0-1-1-0 – 2, 1, 6
WESTWOOD – 1-7-3-2-X – 13, 10, 2
W: Makayla Drakeford
W: Anna Belton 3-4, 3B, 2 RBI. Jada McConnell 2-4.
TUESDAY
GAME 1
WESTWOOD – 7-12-2 – 21, 10, 0
RICHLAND NORTHEAST – 0-0-1 – 1, 1, 4
W: Izzy Ridgeway
W: Marguerite Ridgeway 2-2, 2B, 3 RBI. Anna Graves 3B, 3 RBI. Parker Horton 2-2. Jersey Brass 2 RBI.
GAME 2
WESTWOOD 2-1-6-3 – 12, 9, 0
RICHLAND NORTHEAST – 0-0-0-0 – 0, 1, 5
W: Makayla Drakeford
W: Anna Belton 2-2. Marguerite Ridgeway 2-2, 2B. Reagan Remia 2B. Taylor Blevines 2 RBI.