High school softball is all about having momentum at the right time of the season. The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs look to have it.
Greenwood capped a 21 win season by picking up their 11th win in the 7A/6A-Central by knocking off Conway on Friday. A large part of the Lady Bulldogs success has to be credited to their pitcher-catcher combination.
"She’s wonderful," sophomore pitcher Victoria Taylor said of junior catcher Abbey Lejong. "She blocks everything. She makes me look good. She’s a great catcher."
"She hits her spots really well and when she comes out, she brings it and it’s really nice to have such a good pitcher because not only does she go for the strikeout but she also can trust her defense behind her," Lejong said of Taylor.
The improvement Taylor has shown over the season is a big reason why Greenwood will be a favorite in next week's 6A state tournament despite being a three seed.
"She’s been getting a lot of strikeouts and getting ahead of people, just getting some easy ground balls for the defense," Greenwood coach Ronnie Sockey said. "She’s got good stuff right now. She’s throwing harder, got the curve ball working, got a good rise ball. She’s just able to keep the hitter’s off balance. Keep them guessing."
Behind every good pitching staff squats a quality catcher and the Lady Bulldogs have just that in Lejong.
Confidence is riding high at Greenwood and now the players expect to go out and bring home a state title.
"I think we’re going to do really well if we can just come out focused and have great attitudes," Lejong said. "I think we’ll do pretty good."
"I think we have a big shot at the state tournament," Taylor said. "That win helped us out a lot and I think we’ve got it."