Pfeiffer softball awaits opponent in USA South Tourney finals
Published 3:08 pm Monday, May 6, 2024
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The Pfeiffer softball team has put together an impressive season as the Falcons await this weekend’s USA South Conference best of three finals series.
Pfeiffer is 41-2, opening with a 15-game win streak before a 1-0 road loss at North Carolina Wesleyan April 2. The Falcons’ only other loss was the first game of a doubleheader April 24 at home versus Meredith, a 1-0 loss in nine innings.
Pfeiffer has outscored its opponents 319-43, and is ranked 13th in the nation in NCAA Division III softball. Head coach Monte Sherill, in his ninth season, is 305-75 overall with an 80.3 win percentage. Along with his 753-60 high school coaching record, Sherill is over the 1,000-win mark in coaching victories.
Junior first baseman Kenzi Lyall, the 2024 USA South Softball Player of the Year, has a .441 batting average with an OPS of 1.237, including 10 doubles, 10 home runs and 42 runs batted in. The former Alleghany High School standout won her second straight Player of the Year award, only the sixth time it is happened in the history of the conference. Lyall also is a standout for Pfeiffer in the pitching circle (13-0, 0.75 ERA, 84.1 IP, 23 BB, 65 K).
Pfeiffer also has the 2024 USA South Pitcher of the Year in senior Kali Morton. This season, she is 22-1 with a 0.71 earned-run average. In 138.2 innings pitched, she struck out 168 batters with 39 walks; opponents have batted .161 against the former Mooresville High School standout.
The Falcons’ Kyler Perdue also won USA South Rookie of the Year. The former Southwestern Randolph Cougar, playing in the middle infield for Pfeiffer, is hitting .341 this season with a .761 OPS, one double and 11 RBIs. She has just five fielding errors and a .960 fielding percentage.
Pfeiffer will host the USA South Championship Series Friday and Saturday, playing either No. 2 Greensboro or No. 7 Meredith, who have not been able to play their games because of inclement weather.