Owen Warcolts fall short in conference championship
Middle school recognizes eight players in final regular season home game
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
April 26, 2023
The French Broad Conference regular season championship was on the line, April 26, as Owen Middle School hosted Enka on the softball diamond.
The powerful Warcolts offense posted an early lead on the visiting Sugar Jets, but a two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning proved too much to overcome.
Owen, which entered the contest with an 11-2 record, opened the night by recognizing eight players who were suiting up for the final regular season home game of their middle school careers. Hanna Norton, Mia Roland, Avery Boone, Adeline West, Kennedy Reed, Scarlet Gilham, Kenzie Robinson and Payten Brockman each received gift bags from their teammates before the first pitch.
The home team jumped out to an early lead in the first inning before the Sugar Jets evened the score in the second. The visitors plated another run in the top of the third, but the Warcolts responded in the bottom half of the inning.
Enka took the lead for good in the fifth, belting a two-run home run over the left field fence. Owen would go on to strand a pair of runners later in the inning, as the visiting team closed it out to win the regular season conference championship.
Warcolts head coach Shane Harper huddled with his players on the field after the game and told them there was still work to be done this season. The team will host Valley Springs Middle School, Monday, May 8, in the opening round of the conference tournament.
“We still have something to play for,” he said, adding Owen would enter the postseason as a No. 2 seed. “We can’t worry about the loss because we have to get back out there and focus on our next opponent.”
The Warcolts, Harper added, have a lot to be proud of this season.
“We have amazing team chemistry, and these players have been tested and they improve each day,” he said. “I feel like this is a special group, and especially these eighth-graders. They’re going to do big things up at the high school level.”
The goal for Owen is simple, according to the coach: win the conference tournament.
“I tell them it isn’t how you start, it’s how you finish,” Harper said. “We know what we can do, so now it’s just time to go out there and do it.”
Photos of the French Broad Conference matchup between Owen and Enka Middle Schools can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.