Fulghum does it all to lead No. 6 North Duplin past Rosewood
Tuesday night in Calypso was spent honoring North Duplin’s trio of softball seniors.
But when the Rebels took the field, they played like all nine had four years under their belt.
A dominant performance on both sides of the ball from sophomore Lilly Fulghum secured a 9-0 win over Rosewood, and proved why North Duplin will be one of the state’s toughest outs when the calendar flips over to May.
Fulghum went 2-for-2 at the plate, homered, walked twice, scored three times, drove in four, and spun a complete game shutout.
It’s the 11th time that the 12-win Rebels have been victorious by nine or more runs. In this week's HighSchoolOT statewide softball polls, they're only one of two 1A teams to crack the Top-25. Like they have for a handful weeks this season, the defending eastern champions own a spot in the Top-10 at No. 6.
In a battle of two teams that entered a combined 25-3 overall, Fulghum broke the ice first to give herself all of the offense that she would end up needing.
She drew lead-off walk in the bottom of the second, advanced to third on an Ady Spence single, and scored a batter later when Marissa Bernal grounded into a fielder’s choice.
The 1-0 lead quickly inflated thanks to a five-run third.
Fulghum rocked a run-scoring hit through the left side to plate Iala Overton. Spencer and Bernal followed by reaching base on consecutive fielder’s choices that would bring home runs. Sarah Thomas Tucker capped things off with a two-run single up the middle to push the advantage to 6-0.
With two on in the bottom of the fourth, Fulghum blasted her sixth home run of the year, a no-doubt shot to left to give the Rebels a 9-0 lead.
Rosewood managed to get runners on base in five of its seven trips to the plate, but could not put a run on the board.
Outlaw and Addison Higginbotham twirled an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play in the third, and Fulghum stranded a pair in scoring position in the fourth with two big strikeouts.
That’s as close as the Eagles would get, but they end the two-game series having been outscored 22-0.
North Duplin is now 12-1 overall and 7-0 in the Carolina 1A Conference. Regular season league play wraps up on Thursday evening at Hobbton.
Rosewood is 14-3 (6-2) following the defeat. The Eagles still maintain its grip on second place in the conference. They travel to Lakewood on Thursday.
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