ALBEMARLE — With the first month of the 2022 high school softball season in the books, the North Stanly Comets currently stand at the top of the Yadkin Valley Conference with a perfect record and having already doubled their win total from a year ago.
The undefeated Comets (8-0, 4-0 YVC) have won five games at home and three on the road in dominant fashion, outscoring their opponents 97-19 to start the season. North — led by first-year coach Phillip Speight — has been particularly effective in its four games against a pair of conference foes.
The Comets posted an 11-0 road victory over Robinson (1-6, 0-4 YVC) on March 8 and followed that up three days later with a 9-1 home win against the Bulldogs. North pulled off a 5-0 home win versus Gray Stone (4-4, 0-4 YVC) on March 15 that was supplemented by a 19-3 road victory over the Knights a few days later.
North’s offense has been a balanced attack this year with eight different players batting at least .400 from the plate.
While no player has recorded a home run, the team has flourished by getting on base, led by freshman pitcher Kylie Speight, who is batting a team-high .600 with 12 hits and 10 RBIs in her 24 plate appearances.
On top of being the team’s most reliable hitter, Speight has also been the Comets’ primary pitcher. She has posted six wins, a 1.35 ERA and a 5.57 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 37 innings.
Senior catcher Callie Parker leads the Comets in runs scored (13) and has batted .579 at the plate with 11 hits. With a .414 batting average, junior shortstop Georgia Mullis has posted 12 hits in a team-high 31 plate appearances, while senior outfielder Hunter Helms (11 hits, six RBIs) and freshman third baseman Makayla Barger (eight hits, 10 RBIs) are both batting .500 to start the year.
Last season, the Comets had a 4-6 record (4-4 in conference play) and were outscored 77-56 in total. Just a year later, the team is already well on its way to smashing the statistics that it previously held while looking to unseat reigning YVC champion South Stanly as the top team in the conference.
The Comets were set to host South (5-2, 2-0 YVC) on March 22. North will then head to Norwood on March 25 for the second part of its back-to-back slate against South.