Vance County falls to Cedar Ridge on senior night
Apr. 28—HENDERSON — The Vance County softball team did not get the outcome they were looking for on senior night Tuesday, as they fell to Cedar Ridge by a score of 8-3.
Head coach Jordan Wilder believed Vance County did everything they needed to do to keep pace with Cedar Ridge but attributed the loss to a handful of lackluster sequences on the plate and on the mound.
"Everybody played real good," Wilder said. "Blake [Vick] did a great job on the mound but I think we could have been a little better batting and been more selective with the pitches."
Vance County had previously defeated Cedar Ridge 7-4 on the road back on April 8 but Wilder knew that the rematch would be anything but easy with the two programs holding on to identical records.
The game remained scoreless until the top of the third inning when Cedar Ridge junior Takia Nichols knocked a solo home run out towards centerfield. Three more Cedar Ridge runners reached home plate to give their team a 4-0 lead.
Nichols continued to cause problems for Vance County at the top of the fourth with another home run that increased Cedar Ridge's lead to seven. Sophomore Kynnedy Keel tried to give Vance County some momentum with a home run of her own but this only trimmed the deficit down to five.
The gap between the two programs stayed at five runs all the way until the seventh inning as Cedar Ridge successfully prevented Vance County from rounding the bases and denied them a victory on senior night.
While Vance County was not able to get the win Tuesday, senior Tymiah Wimbush considers the 2021 season a success knowing that she had one more opportunity to play alongside her teammates and develop as a player despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"I thought we weren't even going to have a season this year," Wimbush said. "It felt great being able to play this whole season without interruptions. I've played a big leadership role in trying to encourage everybody and I've continued to work hard and get better each day."
Wilder said that the senior class of Wimbush, Malia Simmons, Victoria Dominguez and Zarmiya Watson has been instrumental in the development of softball at Vance County since its inception back in 2018, adding that their presence on and off the field will be missed next season.
"Tymiah, Malia and Victoria have been starters all three years," Wilder said. "Zarmiya has come in and emerged as a starter this year. Malia plays such a big role behind the plate and Tymiah can really run the balls down in centerfield. Victoria has been out most of the year but she is solid everywhere on the field. All of them have had such a tremendous impact on this team."
