Payton Craig, North Central Off to 4-0 Start

Former North Harrison softball standout Payton Craig has picked up where she left off as a Shamrock. She is now playing for the North Central Missouri College Pirates; while she may look different wearing red, she got her old number, 8, back.

Other local players playing on the team include Taylor McQueen (Stanberry), Josie Deen (Jefferson), and Vivian Allen (Princeton).

The Pirates have jumped out to a 4-0 start after their first road trip of the year last Monday and Tuesday. In their first game, a 9-0 win over North Arkansas, Payton Craig started and was caught by Josie Deen. She was 1 for 2 with a run scored. Deen was 1 for 2 with a run scored, a walk, and an RBI. The Pirates overcame six double plays to get the nine runs.

Payton Craig pitched three innings and gave up one hit and struck out three, with no walks. Kaitlyn Marsh finished the game, pitching the last two innings for the run rule win.

In North Central’s second game, the Pirates won 5-3. Payton Craig was 1 for 3 with a run scored and a stolen base. She played shortstop. North Central jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the top of the fifth. They raised it to 4-1 after the top of the sixth. North Arkansas scored one in the sixth to make it 4-2. The Pirates scored an insurance run in the seventh to make it 5-2, and the Pioneers came up short in the bottom of the seventh. Alex Miller pitched five and one thirds innings and allowed no hits, striking out 11 for the Pirates.

The third game was a cliffhanger for the Pirates, as they jumped out to a 3-1 lead over North Arkansas after two, only to see the Pioneers come back to score three in the bottom of the third to take a 4-3 lead. The Pirate bats were silent until the sixth, when they scored three to make it 6-4. North Arkansas came back to tie it up, only for North Central to push one across in the seventh for the 7-6 win.

Payton Craig started in the third game and was 1 for 4 with two runs driven in. Josie Deen played second and was 0 for 3, but drove in a run. Taylor McQueen pinch-ran and scored a run.

The fourth game was the easiest, as the Pirates ran up a 17-1 run-run win after five innings. Payton Craig was 1 for 1 with a run scored and an RBI that game. Vivian Allen was 1 for 1 with a run scored and two RBI’s, seeing her first action. Payton Craig tossed three innings in the win.