Alma pair come up big with Senior Night show

ALMA 9, PARIS 1

ALMA — Charla Parrish doesn’t know where the Alma softball program would be without four-year senior starters Makenzie Martin and Taelynn Perry.

Parrish is also very glad she will never have to find out.

The two seniors on Senior Night led the way with their ability to pitch, hit and play solid defense. Alma pulled away in a 9-1 victory Thursday against Paris in a five-inning nonconference game.

“These two young ladies have stepped up every game either with defense, hitting or pitching,” Parrish said. “We lost that year with covid, so these girls mean even more with the experience they have. We are going to miss what they bring to our program.”

The senior duo is hitting well over .500 on the season with about 60 RBIs and 13 home runs combined. Martin and Perry showed their abilities again against Paris (9-12).

Martin pitched 5 innings allowing 2 hits and 3 walks along with 8 strikeouts in the circle. She also reached base three times with a pair of hits and a walk, allowing her to score twice and pick up an RBI.

Perry made several plays on hard hit balls to her from the third base position while finishing with a walk and a run scored.

Alma (14-6) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Jada Wallis and Jocelyn Harless both reached and came around to score.

Paris battled back in the top of the third with a run of its own to cut the edge to 2-1. Saylor Hart scored when Jayden Wells belted a RBI double.

That was all the offense Paris could get, as Martin settled down and allowed just one base runner after that and struck out five of the last seven batters in the game.

“She steps up big when we need her,” Parrish said of Martin. “It is senior night, so we put her on the mound. We’ve got a lot of big games coming up. We’ll need her down the road for sure. She has been awesome for us.”

Alma was able to break open its lead in the third inning, using a four-run, two-hit frame to take a 6-1 edge. Martin started the inning with a single and Perry took a walk on four pitches.

“It is hard for us to walk, because we love to hit,” Perry said with a laugh. “The team appreciates it when we set the table. It is a leap of faith, but we know they are going to drive us in behind us.”

Martin, Perry, Julia Nutt and Wallis all scored in the key fourth inning with RBI coming from Wallis with a 2-run double, a ground out from Harless and a sacrifice bunt from Kaytlyn Willis.

Alma added to its lead with two runs in the fourth before Jordan Gramlich ended the game with a run-scoring triple in the fifth inning. Makinzie Erwin scored after singling to open the frame.

Wallis finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. She also ended an inning with two runners on base with a caught stealing from her catcher position. Erwin, Garmlich, Martin and Wallis all had a multi-hit game.