Southern Nash sophomore Taylor Braswell has her own unique pitching style: throw a bunch of offspeed pitches and hope for groundballs and popouts.

In the midst of doing so, Braswell accumulates a high strikeout rate. She fanned 11 batters Monday night and, in the process, led the third-seeded Firebirds to a 5-0 shutout of sixth-seeded Rocky Mount High in the opening round of the NEW 6 Conference softball tournament at Nash Central.

By her own count, Braswell threw only three fastballs against the Gryphons, limiting them to just two hits. Braswell said her offspeed pitches are no longer a surprise to the opponent.

"Everyone knows now, but it's working," Braswell said with a smile.

Southern Nash needed every bit of Braswell's stuff. Gryphons starter Laura Alford was just as sharp from the mound. The junior struck out nine batters and the two ace pitchers might still be pitching if not for two-out errors by the Gryphons in the fourth and fifth innings that led to all five Southern Nash runs.

The Firebirds' last two runs came on Olivia Lamm's inside-the park home run in the fifth. Lamm pulled a two-strike pitch down the third-base line. The ball rolled perfectly into the deepest part of foul territory and the junior sprinted all the way home.

Six Gryphons out later, coach Michelle Huffman gathered her team in left field and challenged them to come back better next season. Rocky Mount finished 4-13 in Huffman's first season.

"Unfortunately it takes a little more than one season to learn from our mistakes," said Alford, who has been on the wrong end of many of her team's losses despite pitching well the last three seasons. "It's a learning process."

The Firebirds (11-8) will face No. 2 Nash Central at 7 tonight. The Bulldogs won both regular-season meetings.

"We need to play with our heads up and be determined," Lamm said.

Wilson Fike 8

SW Edgecombe 1

Wilson Fike swung and connected often on the first pitch Monday evening. Its aggressive nature at the plate led to leadoff batters reaching base and scoring in the first three innings of an 8-1 victory over SouthWest Edgecombe.

The fourth-seeded Golden Demons rarely worked the count, but found favorable results in producing 13 hits off Cougars' starter Haley Wishall. Wilson Fike finished with 12 singles and led 6-0 after three innings. The Golden Demons will face No. 1 Northern Nash at 5 p.m. today.

SouthWest Edgecombe (6-15) pushed a run across in the sixth when Lindsay Lewis singled to center and scored on a three-base error. Lewis and Kayla Hinton led the Cougars with two hits each.

This contest was not close. Cougars coach Beth Madigan watched her team lose five conference games in the seventh inning this season. SouthWest Edgecombe did not suffer such luck – good or bad – Monday.

"Every break this season, we were on the short end of the stick," Madigan said. "I think we made a lot of progress and we'll come out a little stronger next year with seven seniors."

Jessie H. Nunery can be reached at 407-9951 or jhnunery@coxnc.com

Southern Nash 5

Rocky Mount High 0

RMH 000 000 0 – 0 2 2

SN 000 230 x – 5 5 0

WP: Taylor Braswell (7IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 11K). LP: Laura Alford (6IP, 5H, 5R, 0ER, 1BB, 9K).

HR: Olivia Lamm (SN).

Wilson Fike 8

SouthWest Edgecombe 1

SWE 000 001 0 – 1 6 1

WF 321 002 x – 8 13 4

WP: Katelyn Suggs (7IP, 6H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 3K). LP: Haley Wishall (6IP, 13H, 8R, 8ER, 1BB, 2K).

2B: Haley Hart (WF). 3B: Kayla Hinton (SWE).