Aynor softball routs Waccamaw for key region victory

Sandie Jones isn’t complaining about the scheduling quirk that back-loaded her team’s region schedule at home.

The Aynor softball coach now has proof of how meaningful it may turn out to be.

The Blue Jackets defeated Waccamaw 10-0 in six innings Tuesday in a game that keeps Jones’ team in the hunt for a Region VIII-AA title and at the very least puts it in prime position for an all-important top-two position.

“I have no idea [how that happened],” Jones said of getting the final four region games at home. “That helps tremendously. We try to have pride in our home. We’re comfortable here. We’re confident here.”

The victory over Waccamaw was every bit of a confidence booster.

After Shelby Cox led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run, the Blue Jackets continued to pour it on offensively. They added another run in the second and then blew it open with three in the third.

Feeding off that, Aynor (15-6, 6-1 region) pushed across two more in the fifth and then ended it with three-run sixth. The only inning in which the Blue Jackets didn’t score was the fourth.

Cox finished 3-for-4 with that home run and three RBIs and three runs. Brooke Elliott was 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI.

The scoring was also spread out fairly evenly. Only one starter failed to record either an RBI or a run in the game.

It’s the type of balance that could help Aynor in its final three games, including next Tuesday’s against region-leading and undefeated Dillon.

“We started hitting the ball,” Elliott said. “That’s basically what we haven’t been doing against Dillon.”

Said Jones: “We are hitting from the No. 1 spot all the way to the No. 9 spot. When everyone’s pulling together like that, it does make you more confident about what the future can hold.”

Elliott also did her part from the rubber. She allowed just three hits, and after getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first never really faced significant trouble again.

As much as that provided a spark for the Aynor, it also built negatively for the Warriors.

“I felt like we had some kids lose hope tonight,” Waccamaw coach Scott Streiffert said. “… We just aren’t in a good place mentally right now.

“We don’t have a lot of time to work that out. We have a game [Wednesday]. We’re scheduled to play Friday. We have four games next week.”

The Warriors (10-6, 3-2) stand in third place in the division and would need to defeat Dillon twice in the final five region contests to have a realistic shot of a top-two finish needed get out of that spot.

That’s a position the Blue Jackets aren’t looking to give up, unless it’s to move past the high-powered Wildcats.

“We want first place. We want to win our region,” Jones said. “We want to beat Dillon. Are we capable of beating Dillon? We are.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2015 at 9:05 PM with the headline "Aynor softball routs Waccamaw for key region victory."