Owens’ bat leads the way for Raiders in win over Tiftarea

Published 9:25 pm Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Southland Academy centerfielder Adler Rae Owens was on fire Tuesday afternoon, as she went 4 for 4 at the plate in leading the Southland Academy Raiders (SAR) to an 8-0 shutout victory over the Tiftarea Academy Panthers at the Southland Academy softball complex.

The Raiders have now won three straight games after dropping their first two of the season.

“I was really proud of our pitching and defense today. We did a really good job. I don’t believe there were any errors or anything defensively,” SAR Head Coach Blaze Hargrove said. “We did a good job of forcing contact. We did a really good job battling and we got some big time hits. I’m super proud of them. We’ve finally got a good thing going so I’m just hoping we can continue on this path.”

Owens singled in the first inning, doubled in the second inning, singled in the fourth inning and tripled in the fifth inning. In total, she drove in two RBIs and scored two runs to lead the Raiders’ offense. Ila Johnson also had a good day at the plate, as she went 2 for 3 with a single and a double, drove in a run and scored another.

Riley McRee went the distance in the circle for SAR. She pitched six scoreless innings and gave up only four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Southland Academy starting pitcher Riley McRee pitched six scoreless innings. She gave up four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
Photo by Ken Gustafson

SAR took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Owens singled to lead off the inning and Avery Ledger reached on an error that allowed Owens to advance to third. Gracie Usher then drove in the first run of the game on a fielders’ choice and Ila Johnson followed that up with an RBI on a fielder’s choice.

The Raiders later added a run in the second on an RBI double from Owens and tacked on two more in the fourth when Owens singled and Reeves Young scored on an error. Owens would later score from third on a passed ball, giving the Raiders a 5-0 lead.

The Raiders were still not done, however, as they would add two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Annalise Britt scored on a passed ball and Owens drove in another run on an RBI triple. Then with one out in the bottom of the sixth, the Raiders put the cherry on top when Payton Weeks hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Ila Johnson to score. That officially ended the game, as the Raiders were able to run rule the Panthers.

SAR (3-2) will try for their fourth straight victory when they travel over to Dawson on Thursday to take on Terrell Academy. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.