High School Sports

Northern Durham softball leads PAC-6, powered by junior class

By Bonitta Best

Correspondent
Northern celebrates a win. The Northern Durham Knights played the Jordan Falcons in a softball game that took place in Durham, N.C. on Friday, March 17 2017. Northern Durham won 21-0.
Northern celebrates a win. The Northern Durham Knights played the Jordan Falcons in a softball game that took place in Durham, N.C. on Friday, March 17 2017. Northern Durham won 21-0. Fabian Radulescu newsobserver.com
DURHAM

Northern Durham has jumped out to the PAC-6 Conference softball lead thanks in large part to a strong junior class. Juniors McKenzie McCullen, Sarah Pleasants, Hannah Morris and Hannah Arendt are the team’s leading batters, and all are hitting at least .439 or higher.

Morris and McCullen have also split starts for the Knights (10-4, 7-0), with Morris boasting a 0.23 ERA and McCullen a 2.17.

Morris’ versatility helps take the pressure off McCullen, and vice versa.

“She can play multiple positions, so she always works hard and is a lot of fun to be around,” coach Boo Riggsbee said of Morris.

McCullen has a whopping six triples this year while batting .553. Morris (.514) leads the team with 21 RBIs and Pleasants (.526) is second with 14. Arendt is hitting .439 with a pair of doubles.

When asked which she preferred – a strikeout or a hit – Morris, a Radford recruit replied: “A hit. I’m not going to pitch in college; they recruited me for hitting so hitting is my main thing.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 10:19 AM with the headline "Northern Durham softball leads PAC-6, powered by junior class."

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