Davis helps East Webster offense with good performance at plate

All it would take to find the OCH/Starkville Daily News Athlete of the Week this week would be to throw a dart at the names of East Webster's top four softball hitters.

The bats in Cumberland are as hot as ever as the Lady Wolverines (19-4) are focused in on a possible run towards another Class 2A State championship in slow pitch softball. The top part of the lineup has been a huge reason for that success and no one was bigger in the biggest game than junior second baseman Jessica Davis.

Against Eupora last week in a pivotal rivalry game with playoff implications on the line, Davis belted two home runs and four RBI as East Webster rolled by the Lady Eagles. She finished the week 8-for-13 with 10 RBI, three doubles and two home runs as the Lady Wolverines went 5-0 and won three big district games.

With leadoff hitter Emily Nason, Jennah Pate, Davis and Jessi Reed hitting the way they are at this point in the season, it's tough for teams to work its way through the top of the lineup.

East Webster softball coach Lee Berryhill said that Davis especially is taking care of business being sandwiched between Pate and Reed.

“She's sitting in the three hole behind Jennah Pate,” Berryhill said. “Jennah Pate has been hot and she's in a position to extend that inning. If she gets on and extends that inning, you have a chance to put a big crooked number up.”

It was senior night on Tuesday night and Davis wasn't honored due to having one more year of eligibility but it's hard not to picture the veteran player as a senior on the team. Davis has been a big part of the East Webster lineup and defense for the last several years and the team looks to her as a leader just as it does the three seniors on their way out this year.

“You think of her almost like a senior because she's been out here so long," Berryhill said of Davis. "We look at her to lead just like the seniors do. She plays great defense. Her hitting has been up and down, but right now she's putting it on the barrel head.”

For Davis, the last week has been a culmination of hard work from the start of the season to the end. Practice has been spent eliminating inconsistencies for a relatively inexperienced

team. She feels that she and her teammates are

playing at their best because of it.

After losing several key pieces to last year's team like Bailie Springfield, she felt like she had to step in and take over.

“I felt like I've had a lot of progress," Davis said. "This week we've been working on accountability and being accountable for yourself. At the beginning of the season,

I wasn't keeping myself accountable, but I promised him I would have it once we got to district. That was my goal, to be a strong leader for my team.”