Landrum’s last two days have been torrid at the plate. The defending region champions have been tearing up the competition with their bats. The Lady Cardinals scored 25 runs on Monday afternoon against Whitmire. On Tuesday, the Lady Cardinals scored 12 more runs en route to a 12-2 victory over Christ Church.
It hasn’t all been about the offense, however.
Team defense is something that Landrum coach Tucker Hamrick is constantly talking about. The Lady Cardinals showed flashes last season en route to a region championship, but that part of their game has launched to a whole other level this season.
On Tuesday afternoon, team defense played a major role in Landrum’s win over Christ Church.
In the first inning, catcher Bre Cuff made turned around to make a diving catch on a difficult foul ball. Right fielder Shelby Morris showed her speed in the fourth inning with a ball that looked like it might drop. The best defensive game of the night, however, went to first baseman Meagan Painter. Painter had three groundball put outs in the first three innings and in the fourth inning, she made a shoestring catch on a line drive.
“She played a great game at first base,” Hamrick said. “She really focuses hard on what she’s got to do.”
And the concept of defense isn’t lost on the Lady Cardinals, Painter said.
“Defense is just as important as offense,” she said. “I think we all played good on defense tonight.”
Offensively, Landrum scored two runs in the second inning and one in the third.
The big inning for Landrum, however, was the fourth. The Cardinals scored eight runs in that inning. Landrum sent 13 batters to the plate in the fourth and eight of them scored. Sydnie Brown had an RBI single and Taylor Jenkins had an RBI double.
It wasn’t Landrum’s best game, Hamrick said, but his team has grown in its ability to still win big under those circumstances.
“They play hard in everything that they do,” he said.
The Cardinals (11-3, 10-0) will host Woodruff tonight at 7 p.m. in a non-region matchup.