BY MIKE LONDON
SALISBURY POST

WELCOME — North Davidson softball coaching legend Mike Lambros handed West Rowan a 2-0 defeat in the first round of the 3A state playoffs on Friday. Then he handed the Falcons a pretty nice compliment.

“That’s as tough a first-round playoff game as we’ve had,” said Lambros. “Ever.”

“Ever” takes in a few years, because Lambros’ North Davidson Black Knights haven’t missed making the playoffs since 1980 when Jimmy Carter was in the White House and West coach Vanessa Noe was in first grade.

Lambros was very, very thankful for two things. One, that he’d had the chance to scout West Rowan, and two, that he had a whole week to prepare for the Falcons’ speed.

“I really think,” said Lambros, “that if we’d just walked in on this bunch, they’d probably have got five or six runs on us. They are unbelievably fast at the top of the lineup.”

“We worked as hard this week to get ready as we ever have for anybody,” added Knight second baseman Tracey Tonsor. “It’s a good thing we worked like we did. We knew West was quick, but those first two girls (Emily Wallace and Lyndsey Gay) were really, really quick.”

Most of the Knight’s preparation involved infielders bravely standing 10 feet from home plate without regard for their dental work, while Lambros and his assistants slapped hundreds of balls at them. Lambros was determined that he was not going to get beat by West’s bunts and after a week of close-range drills and thrills his girls were ready.

When Wallace or Gay stepped to the plate, Tonsor moved up to pitcher Janelle Damato’s right, close enough to tell the flavor of gum the Falcons were chewing. Meanwhile, third baseman Jessica Harrell trotted in close enough to shake hands with the Falcon freshmen.

“They had us scouted and knew where to play everyone,” said West coach Vanessa Noe. “They took our short game away. It was a typical slap defense. Some other teams have played us like that.”

But few teams execute as well as the Black Knights (21-6).

Somehow, Wallace and Gay both got down one successful bunt apiece — accounting for two of West’s five hits — but both were also thrown out at first twice in close plays.

The rest of the Falcon batters had little trouble putting the ball in play against Damato (only two of 25 Falcon batters fanned), but also found it impossible to find a hole. Most everything the Falcons (17-6) hit went directly to Tonsor, who was a virtual vacuum cleaner.

“ It wasn’t like their pitcher was unhittable,” said West’s Blair Harkey, who proved it with two hits. “It was sort of frustrating, because wherever we hit the ball, they were in the right place.”

West junior left-hander Alicia Wilson pitched well, allowing only two solid hits — a single by Tonsor in the fifth and a double down the right-field line by Layne Simpson in the third. Wilson walked three and fanned three. Noe visited the mound just once — after Wilson walked back-to-back batters in the second.

Still, the Knights eked out single runs in the first and fifth.

Lexi Nifong opened the game with a walk, moved to third on two bunts and scored on a wild pitch.

Tonsor scored in the fifth, when she singled, moved around to third on a wild pitch and a bunt single by Nifong and scampered home when West catcher Ashley Dowdy threw out Nifong trying to steal second.

“Just a couple of breaks,” said Noe. “They sort of beat us at our own game.”

West got four runners as far as second, but two of them were only there for a split-second. Gay was out on a steal in the first when she overslid the bag and Cara Graham did the same thing in the fourth.

“The infield was so hard that they just couldn’t stop themselves,” said Noe.

Blair Harkey had a clean single in the second and stole second base, but was left stranded. Wallace reached second after her bunt single in the sixth, but got no further.

It was a game that moved along at a Kentucky Derby pace with both pitchers throwing strikes and the fielders making plays.

“We’ve been pretty sloppy lately,” said Tonsor. “So it was nice to get back in a groove.”

West, which batted eight freshmen and put seven of them in the field behind Wilson, showed few hints of nervousness in a big-time atmosphere that included a large, vocal crowd and a big-league caliber scoreboard.

Noe, in fact, said she was considerably more uptight than any of her young players.

Harkey agreed. “It’s a real nice field and all,” she said. “But we definitely weren’t intimidated.”

“We were just a little nervous, maybe,” added Wallace. “But really, we had nothing to lose. We’ve still got three more years.

“I think where we messed up was losing to Northwest Cabarrus. If we beat them (West lost in 10 innings to the Trojans in Mount Ulla), we’re the second seed instead of the third and we wouldn’t have to play a team like North Davidson in the very first round.”

And who knows? Had Lambros not scouted West so thoroughly and the Knights not played perfect defense, there might have been a trip to the second round.

“West showed me no fear,” said Lambros. “They never blinked. That’s a young bunch that’s headed for really some good stuff.”

And then Lambros paid the Falcons one last compliment.

“West has fun playing this game and they have some class,” he said. “They remind me a whole bunch of my own. Only difference is mine wear black, and they wear blue.”

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NOTES:The best defensive play of the night was turned in by spectator Casey White, who leaped up and speared a line drive foul down the third base line. ... West had a weird 3-4-3 putout when a liner went off Jackie White’s glove and deflected to second baseman Hillary Hampton, who threw to White for the out. ... The Black Knights face the Northwest Cabarrus-East Rutherford winner next, but would love to see their TCC rival, West Stokes, which beat them in the conference tournament, somewhere down the road. “They didn’t just beat us, they tossed it in our face,” said Lambros. ... North Davidson, like Central Cabarrus, will move up to the 4A ranks next season. ... Noe said she wasn’t surprised her team made the playoffs. “I knew we had the talent,” she said. “I thought we had a chance to go even further.”

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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com