Pisgah sophomore Jordan Kielson.
CANTON – Every game between the upper-echelon teams in the Western North Carolina Conference looks like it is going to come down to one or two runs.
Pisgah sophomore Jordan Kielson had the right temperament for it Tuesday.
The Lander (S.C.) softball recruit allowed just five hits (all singles) and struck out nine Franklin batters in a 2-1 home win.
“I’ve played travel ball with a lot of those girls (at Franklin) so I was a little concerned because they’ve seen me pitch before,” Kielson said.
“Coach told me at lunch that I was pitching today and I just focused on what I needed to do.”
Kielson mixed her fastball up with a screwball, curveball and riseball. And the right-hander pitcher her way out of a few jams. Franklin left the bases loaded in the fifth inning and had runners on the corners in the seventh when the final out was recorded.
“She got stronger as the game went on and really made some great pitches in clutch situations,” Pisgah coach Heidi Morgan said.
“We were able to manufacture a couple runs early on and that was big.”
Indeed, the Black Bears (3-2, 2-0) pushed across a single run in the first and second innings. Abby Clark scored on a wild pitch and Miranda Connnor’s RBI single allowed Makayla Beaver to come home.
Beaver (2-for-3) was the only player for either team with multiple hits. Jordan Taylor was 1-2 with a walk and Connor was also 1-2.
The Panthers, who won their WNCAC opener on Friday at Brevard (by a 3-2 score), finally got on the board Tuesday in the fifth inning. Leadoff Halei Bryson had the RBI.
Morgan is a 2002 Pisgah graduate who was hired as coach in June. She had previously been an assistant for four years.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Morgan said with smile.
“These girls come in every day and compete. Things are going really well so far.”
More on this story to come….
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