Toney dominant in Heritage shut out of Salem

CONYERS, Ga. - Opponents of the Heritage softball team may have watched the departure of Kierra Camp after the 2013 season and think 2014 would provide a better opportunity to score runs against the Patriots. So far, that hasn’t been the case.

New staff ace Kamryn Toney continued her dazzling junior season, tossing a complete game, two-hit shut out in Heritage’s 8-0 victory in five innings over Salem Wednesday.

In a game that was a makeup for a September 4 postponement, Toney, who was the No. 2 pitcher behind Camp (now at Georgia Southern) a year ago, allowed two singles in the top of the first, then was unhittable for the remainder of the night.

That opening inning saw Mary Beth Mosley reach on an infield single and move up to second when Peyton Mitchell’s towering fly ball fell behind centerfielder Jamiya Barker at the base of the fence for a single. That put runners at first and second with one out, but Toney got a fielder’s choice groundout and struck out C.C. McCullum to end the threat. Toney struck out the side in the second, and in her final three innings of work got three comebackers and an infield pop up to go along with five of her 10 strikeouts to polish off the abbreviated gem.

Heritage, which jumped on top of Salem 1-0 with a first-inning run in the rain-suspended game, doubled that run total in the home half of the first Wednesday. Facing starter and losing pitcher, Mosley, Barker led off with a fly ball that McCullum played into a triple in center field when she misjudged the ball and fell down. Two batters later, Morgan Whiten’s squeeze bunt chased home Barker and Destiny Herrera followed that with an RBI-groundout to put the Patriots up 2-0.

The host Patriots ran into three outs on the basepaths - twice when runners left early in steal attempts, Ta’lor Bynum was called out for being out of the batter’s box on a second-inning bunt attempt and pinch-runner Glory Seay being thrown out on a steal attempt in the third - but they still tacked on runs against Mosley in each of the final three frames.

Herrera had a sacrifice fly and Toney’s squeeze bunt brought in another run, making it a 4-0 game in the third. An inning later, Bynum opened with a walk and stole second, later scoring on Mosley’s wild pitch. Barker was hit by a pitch and on a throwing error by third baseman Mariah Briney, who otherwise had an excellent game defensively, came around to score the sixth run. Mosley didn’t get an out in the fifth as the Patriots walked off on Herrera’s walk, Toney’s double and a two-run single from Paige Owens.

Photo: Heritage hurler Kamryn Toney delivers a pitch to Mariah Briney of Salem in Wednesday’s game.