By Brad Greer
With just two weeks gone into the MAIS fastpitch softball season, North Delta’s Sarah Johnson has  established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the North State AAA division.
Monday night the junior right-hander fired her second no-hitter of the young season as the Lady Green Wave opened up District 1-AAA district play with a 9-0 victory over Indianola. Johnson’s first no-hitter came last on July 31 in a 10-1 win over Lee Academy at the Magnolia Heights tournament.

 Johnson had plenty of support behind her as North Delta registered 12 hits against Indianola pitching. Senior catcher Myles Durham drove in five runs with two doubles and a single. Johnson and Hannah Potts added a pair of singles while Haley Lamm delivered a single and a RBI double in the sixth inning.

 Taylor Barton and Hailey Rikard  contributed with a single while leadoff hitter Janie Brasell also added a single and scored three runs. Isabella Morrow and Ally Alford each scored a run in a courtesy- running role.

 North Delta (2-3-1) scored in every inning but the third and left seven runners on base while committing one error. Brasell led off the bottom of the first by getting hit by a pitch before coming home on Barton’s RBI single.

 The Lady Waves added to their advantage in the following frame as Durham unloaded a bases loaded double into the left-center field gap to make the score 4-0. Durham’s two-run single in the fourth plated  Brasell and Potts to pad the lead to 6-0.

   North Delta added a single run in the following frame as Potts slapped a single up the middle to drive in Rikard who had led off the inning with a single before advancing to second on Amanda Lamm’s sacrifice bunt.

 Johnson finished the night with ten strikeouts and three walks while allowing only one Indianola runner to reach third base. Following a second inning walk, Johnson retired twelve batters in a row before issuing another free pass in the sixth.

 In junior varsity play, Indianola rallied from a 3-1 deficit to take a 6-3 win over North Delta in three innings. Morrow, Sayle Stennett, Emy Cay Donaldson, Mattie Sykes and Laney Carpenter all singled in the first inning. Ally Alford pitched the first two innings before giving way to Carpenter in the third.

 North Delta will be back in action today at Delta with one varsity game slated a 4 p.m. The Wave will then jump back into district play Monday at Kirk before returning home Tuesday to host Bayou. Both games are scheduled for 5 p.m. with the junior varsity.