Staff report

SALISBURY — Only the top eight South Atlantic Conference teams will qualify for the league tournament, so every game is critical for Catawba’s ninth-place softball team.

Catawba is one game behind eighth-place Emory & Henry, but Emory & Henry also owns has the tiebreaker as it swept the Indians recently in a wild doubleheader.

Playing at home, Indians (19-21, 7-9) had a good split with Carson-Newman (21-15, 11-5), a team that’s tied for third, on Saturday. Catawba won 13-6 and lost 7-4.

Offense hasn’t been much of an issue for the Indians. They are batting .320 as a team with 34 homers. Stopping opponents has been the challenge with a pitching staff that hasn’t been at full strength.

Kary Hales, who starred at Carson, is having a monumental offensive season — eight homers, 43 RBIs and a .364 batting average. She’s also being used quite a bit in the circle.

In the 13-6 win, Hales went 2-for-3 with a homer and four RBIs.

Courtnee Carter also homered. Rily Tucker drove in two runs.

Brianna Herring was the winning pitcher. Hales got her third save.

In the 7-4 loss, Grafe Flynn had two RBIs for Catawba. Flynn and Hales had doubles. Tucker had a triple.

Tucker took the loss in the circle.

Next for Catawba is first-place Wingate. The Bulldogs visit Whitley Field on Wednesday for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.