Charles City softball scores dozen runs in first two innings, crushes Sussex Central 21-9

Charles City’s Alanye’ Greene trots across home plate after hitting her three-run inside-the-park home run.

Robb Johnson photo

Charles City’s Lady Panthers’ softball team continues to trend in the right direction as they have become more competitive in recent years. A Mar. 13 matchup against the visiting Sussex Central Lady Tigers provided more proof that the Lady Panthers are more focused to turn around the culture of a program that has struggled to find wins.

Jumping out to a 7-0 lead, Charles City dominated Sussex Central en route to a 21-9 victory.

The Lady Panthers used small ball and aggressive base running to take control of the contest early on. Leading 7-1 in the bottom of the second, the hosts’ offense clicked on all gears. After Che’dereka Johnson and Kaylee Stewart reached base, Lady Panther Alanye’ Greene hit a three-run inside-the-park home run to push the hosts’ advantage to 11-1. Later in the inning, Taniyah Williams followed suit with a two-run inside-the-park home run. From there, Charles City withstood comebacks by Sussex Central, winning by the mercy rule after five innings of play.

After the game, first-year Charles City Lady Panthers’ Head Coach Jeff Hayes spoke about the performance.

“It’s great to win your home opener,” he said. “The girls’ have worked hard at practice and with both teams being evenly matched, we were able to get some hits and productivity at the plate.

“Hopefully, this can springboard this team into the rest of the season,” Hayes concluded.

Charles City improves to 1-0 on the year.