Brummitt steps up as West Johnston softball stops Fuquay-Varina

Tatum Brummitt pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout to push West Johnston past Fuquay-Varina, 3-0, in the first round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A softball playoffs on Wednesday.

With the win, the Wildcats (17-4) will visit Holly Springs, a 10-0 winner over Cardinal Gibbons, in the second round.

Fuquay-Varina finishes the season at 11-9.

“I have to give props to Tatum,” West Johnston coach Laura Jefferson said. “A lot of people have four and five pitchers. We have one. Tatum is going to Pembroke to be a first baseman. She’s the best first baseman anywhere. To take her out of her comfort zone and put her on the mound, she has gone above and beyond.”

She didn’t look out of place in the circle, striking out a dozen Bengal batters while allowing only a pair of doubles to Alyssa Smith and Paige Barrett in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively.

Makayla Hackney opened the scoring with a RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning while Kaitlyn Tucker and Brummitt added RBI singles in the home half of the fifth inning.

Those were the only blemishes against Bengal pitcher Cathan Soto, who allowed three runs on nine hits in six innings.

“We had a great effort from our pitcher tonight,” Fuquay-Varina coach Deborah Clarke said. “Hats off to West Johnston. They did what they needed to do to put some runs on the board. It doesn’t matter if it’s one nothing, three nothing or seven nothing, we can’t leave a goose egg up there.

She continued: “We turned things around towards the end of the season. We have a young team, so we’ll look towards next year to try to get our chemistry a little tighter. … We hope they remember this feeling, not liking getting off the field this way. Hopefully, next year we’ll go a little deeper.”

The Wildcats are still very much focused on this year, and keeping a group of seniors and their coach together just a little bit longer.

“I’m glad to be past this, but it’s going to be tough going into Holly Springs on Friday,” West Johnston coach Laura Jefferson said. “But this is a really special team, and I have a lot of good seniors. This is my fourth year ... Nadia (Blevins), I’ve coached her for four years in basketball and softball. So I can’t imagine not coming to practice tomorrow. I don’t know what we would do. It’s going to be hard to adjust when it does end.”

This story was originally published May 11, 2017 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Brummitt steps up as West Johnston softball stops Fuquay-Varina."