MOUNT ULLA —  The mark of a good player is not taking a frustrating at-bat into the field when it’s time to pick up a glove.

Northwest Cabarrus slugger Alli Florian, batting .588 entering Friday’s game, lined out hard to sprinting West Rowan center fielder Parker Greene in the top of the fourth. But Florian made a remarkable catch in the bottom of the same inning to key the Trojans’ 7-0 victory over the Falcons.

It was a road victory that put NWC (9-3, 8-2) alone at the top in the South Piedmont Conference softball standings.

It was 0-0 for a long time, the pitching duel that everyone expected between NWC’s Brittany Duncan and West Rowan’s Peyton Greene.

West Rowan (9-4, 6-3) almost broke through in the bottom of the fourth. Parker Greene singled to start the inning, and Hunter Gibbons made solid contact, a sinking liner toward the gap in right-center.

“It scared me because I thought it was dropping in front of Alli,” Duncan said. “But then I saw her diving, and, well, that wasn’t the first great catch I’ve seen her make this year.”

“I was just reacting in a tough situation and playing as hard as I can,” said Florian, whose family moved to North Carolina from Missouri. “I was kind of angry about my at-bat. I wanted to get one back.”

Florian’s diving grab loomed even larger when West Rowan slugger Marissa Yow followed with a hissing drive over the head of the left fielder. But instead of driving in runs, Yow’s loud hit just gave the Falcons runners at second and third with one out. Duncan got out of that jam by getting Peyton Greene to pop up on a 3-2 pitch and retiring Khara Fesperman on a bunt attempt.

“That was a crazy inning,” Yow said. “If we score, even one run, then we’ve got the momentum. Instead we didn’t score, and they got all the momentum. That girl made a good catch. They came ready to play. We were flat.”

Northwest Cabarrus used that momentum to take charge with three runs in the fifth. Mattie Robinson and Abby Peterson drove in runs, and the aggressive Trojans took advantage of two fielding mistakes.

“This isn’t how we like to do it because we like to jump on teams early,” NWC coach Jamie Blalock said. “But you take it when you can get it.”

Duncan allowed a one-out single to Savannah Cline in the fifth and a leadoff single in the sixth to Parker Greene, but she maintained the 3-0 lead.

“A lot of riseballs,” said Duncan, who struck out eight, walked none and held the Falcons to four hits. “We also used screwballs and backdoor curveballs.”

Northwest Cabarrus added four unearned runs in the seventh to blow it open. Then Duncan set the Falcons down 1-2-3 in the bottom half to set off mini-celebration.

“They played a lot better than we did,” West Rowan coach Jimmy Greene said. “The thing that bothered me is they outhustled us. You can’t control some things that happen, but hustle is something you can control.”

Florian said her Missouri team won only a handful of games last season.

“So this feels awesome,” she said. “Being in first place is a great feeling.”

Northwest Cabarrus has won seven in a row.

“Now that we’re in first, we have to back it up,” Blalock said. “There’s a long way to go.”

The Falcons got off to a 5-0 start in the league, including a 3-1 win at Northwest Cabarrus, but there have been struggles lately.

“We’ll have to see if this game defines us — or motivates us,” Peyton Greene said.

 

NW Cabarrus    000    030  4  — 7   9   0

West Rowan     000    000   0  — 0   4   4

W — Duncan. L  — Pe. Greene.