Byng outlasts fire, host Roff in 3-1 victory
Aug. 13—ROFF — Sophomore McKenzie Alford cracked an RBI double and later scored on a passed ball in a two-run Byng sixth inning to help the Lady Pirates hold off Roff for a 3-1 victory in a Thursday night road game.
Not only did the Byng team turn back a tough Roff squad for its first victory of the 2022 season, but the Lady Pirates also endured a fire delay in the second inning.
Yes, you read that right. The game was paused when a house just beyond the wall in left field caught fire.
"There's a first time for everything. I really thought someone was just burning something in Roff, America," Byng head coach Markus Carr told The Ada News. "But we started getting ashes on the field and we just pulled them off for about an hour."
Carr said he didn't expect the delay to last so long.
"I thought it was just going to be one of those things where we take them off for a minute and get them right back on. Then it was 30 minutes, 45 minutes and an hour. When that thing (the fire) got going, it was going," he said.
Carr said it was a testament to his team for keeping the intensity it had before the strange delay.
"It's tough for high school athletes in general to have a plan and to have something interrupt that plan and keep their focus and keep playing with the standards we have here. But they did a really good job of it last night," he said.
Roff athletic director Steve Kile was oddly enough at Byng when he heard the news.
"I was at Byng coaching a junior high game and I get a text saying they were in a delay. I'm thinking rain? Lightning? And then my wife called me and told me it was a fire delay," said Roff athletic director Steve Kile. "It was so close that with the wind and it being so dry if they hadn't got to it, it could have been ugly."
Roff scored in the bottom of the sixth inning when Sophie Eldred walked and scored on a clutch two-out, RBI double by Danleigh Harris that trimmed the Byng advantage to 3-1. However, Byng pitcher Hannah Wort stranded Harris and the Lady Tigers went quietly in the bottom of the seventh. Wort was strong for seven full innings for the visitors. She struck out eight, walked just one batter and allowed just the one earned run.
Alford had two of just three Byng hits. She finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Torri Gustin had Byng's other hit.
Harris was a one-girl wrecking crew for Roff. She finished 3-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI. Harris was also dominant on the mound. She struck out 13, walked just one and didn't allow an earned run in the complete-game outing.
"She's a really good pitcher," Carr said. "What makes her a little bit different than everyone else is she can hit a dime and her pitches have movement and velocity. She's really smart. It was definitely a good win."
Byng hosts Seminole at 6 p.m. on Monday while Roff welcomes Asher to Tiger Field at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
