Triangle softball group takes second at Powerade State Games

What happens when you combine local softball players from 11 schools, seven conferences and four classifications?

A silver medal in the Powerade State Games.

Coached by Middle Creek’s Robbie Wray and Panther Creek’s Bryan Cromer, the Region 3 team went undefeated in pool play before falling to Region 6 from the greater Charlotte area 9-5 in the Gold Medal game Wednesday night at Dail Stadium on the N.C. State campus.

The Middle Creek softball program served as host for the high school softball competition for the State Games, with round-robin pool play held at Middle Creek’s facility in Cary. The Gold and Bronze Medal games were at Dail Stadium.

“It’s been a fun week, but it’s been busy,” Wray said. “Middle Creek softball, our families and our team has been the host, and it’s been nice. It’s been a lot of work, but we’ve had a lot of help. I’m fortunate to have a great support staff.”

Wray and Cromer began building the Region 3 team in April, with tryouts at Fuquay-Varina and North Johnston high schools. Region 3 represents Wake County and surrounding counties in the north-central part of the state, with 19 players signing up.

That meant Wray and Cromer had to make the difficult choice to cut four players before ending up with the roster of 15. One player dropped out before the competition started.

“One of the hardest things we do in high school sports is cut kids,” Wray said. “We did the best we could, trying to put together the best team we could. We did get to the gold medal game with what we had.”

Wray had two of his own players from Middle Creek, Lily Morris and Devin Wallace, with fellow Southwest Wake Athletic Conference players Shae Condon from Green Hope, Brianna Smith from Fuquay-Varina and Kaitlyn Long from Apex also on the team.

Long, the District 3 player of the year this season, participated in the State Games for the first time this year after hearing from friends who played in the past.

“They all loved it, so I figured I’d give it a try this year,” Long said. “Just getting to play with all the girls I usually play against was the most fun. We’ve got a bunch of different girls from the SWAC and the Cap-8, so it’s cool to be playing against them in school ball and then come out here a month later and play with them.”

But the team didn’t have much time to jell, getting one practice before games started earlier this week.

“It’s almost like these kids play year-round together,” Cromer said. “We had two tryouts, one practice, and three games, and they were buying in at practice. It’s been really fun to watch everybody mesh together and play. When they set foot in between the lines, it’s game on. It doesn’t matter what school they go to.”

Both coaches probably wish they had more time to develop chemistry with this team, as Wray said some of his players had not met each other when he handed out jerseys earlier this week.

“The fun part is seeing what you can do with a group of kids who you really don’t have a whole lot of knowledge of,” Wray said, “other than they can play the game of softball.”

That’s certainly the case with Hunter Mundy, the star of the 2A state championship team from South Granville. Mundy homered twice in the clinching game earlier this month, also at N.C. State, and she blasted a long two-run homer in the Gold Medal game Wednesday.

Mundy had two South Granville teammates with her on the Region 3 team, Miranda Barker and Megan White, who also homered Wednesday night. Plus, she’s played in the State Games for three years.

“You play these girls in school ball, but this is a different viewpoint of them,” Mundy said. “It’s been fun. This is my third year, and every year we’ve gotten a lot better because it gets out more and a lot more people know about.

“I’ve learned how much it is to be an outgoing person. This is a wide culture and very diverse, and I believe I am one of the leaders on the team. Having to communicate with everybody, that’s a main life goal I’ve learned from this.”

Others, like rising junior Kira Jackson from Garner of the Greater Neuse River Conference, didn’t have any high school teammates on the Region 3 team.

“It was really nice meeting everybody and having a new team to be around,” Jackson said. “I’m the only one from Garner, so it was nice to having my school out here. I’ll be back next year, for sure.”

So will Northern Durham (PAC-6 Conference) sophomore McKenzie McCullen, who singled and walked while playing the entire Gold Medal game.

“Getting to know these girls I don’t know and getting to play with them was great,” McCullen said. “It was a fun experience because I’m not used to this. It’s something I’ll definitely do again.”

McCullen and her teammates had to deal with near 100-degree temperatures this week, forcing many in the area inside for the relief of air conditioning. Yet, here were numerous softball players outside, like

Chelsey Cunningham from the Cap-8’s Wake Forest High School, sweating it up.

“All three Powerade State Games I’ve been in have been 100 degrees,” Cunningham said. “They’re so hot. I bring a towel with me because I drip sweat, especially pitching. I take a rosin bag to the mound and fight against it the best I can.

“I just love playing softball. I’ll take any chance I can to play. It doesn’t really matter if it’s 2 degrees and I have to wear Under Armour or if it’s 100 degrees and I have to bring my towel with me. I just want to play.”

Representing 3A was Mary Anna Clement of J.F. Webb (Big Eight), Hannah Williamson of Wilson’s Hunt High (Big East). Grace Sherron from Roxboro Community of the 1A North Central Athletic Conference was a key player for Region 3, leading off and playing shortstop in the Gold Medal game.

This story was originally published June 25, 2015 at 11:47 AM.