West softball’s 39-game win streak ends in road loss
Published 3:38 pm Monday, March 25, 2024
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Along with ranking among the top high school fastpitch softball programs in North Carolina, the West Stanly Colts entered this season with the opportunity to have their names in the state record book in another category.
Having won six softball titles since the sport’s inception, the Colts entered the 2024 season with a 31-game win streak. West continued the streak with eight wins to start the season and looked to join the top 10 listed in the record books for longest win streaks ever.
However, the Colts’ win streak ended at 39 games Thursday night in a 2-0 road loss at 3A Mooresville.
The 39-game win streak is tied for eighth all-time in state history with South Granville. The leader is Alexander Central, who under current Pfeiffer head coach Monte Sherrill won 95 games between March 5, 2013 and May 22, 2015.
West Stanly (8-1) was limited to one hit in the game, a one-out single from Aliyah Rush in the top of the fourth inning.
Mooresville (7-0) took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out, RBI single to center field, then added a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth.
Lilly Hartsell took the loss for West, allowing one earned run on eight hits with three walks and nine strikeouts.
The loss also ended a streak for West for consecutive games without being shut out. The streak ended at 94 games with Thursday’s loss; prior to it, West had not been shut out since the second game of the 2019 2A State Finals Series versus Eastern Randolph. The Colts rallied to win the third game and the state title in 2019, the first of the team’s current streak of four consecutive seasons winning the 2A state championship.