Parker, Maxwell power West Forsyth to conference title share

Nobody handed West Forsyth a conference title at the start of the year. Six all-conference players had graduated, four-year starters were gone, and the Titans were nobody's pick to run the table in the Central Piedmont 8A/7A. Twenty wins later, they've made everyone look wrong.

West Forsyth finished the regular season 20-4 and tied atop the conference at 8-2 alongside Reagan — but it's the Titans who walk away with the No. 1 seed. The tiebreaker came down to how each team handled third-place East Forsyth (17-6, 7-3): West Forsyth swept the Eagles, while Reagan split. That edge was enough.

"If you'd asked me at the beginning of the year, I don't know that I would've said we'd win it. You don't just graduate six really good all-conference players, four-year starters, and end up at 20-4."

— Kevin Baity, West Forsyth head coach

 

The signature moment of the regular season came in a rematch against Reagan in  Clemmons — a chance to avenge an earlier defeat. It took two arms and two bats to make it happen.

Lilliana Parker struck first, launching a solo home run in the opening inning to put the Titans on top. Reagan responded with two runs across the second and third innings to flip the lead to 2-1. Then Morgan Maxwell answered — not just with her arm, but with her bat — tying the game with a solo shot of her own in the fourth.

Parker wasn't done. In the sixth, she drove another one out to put West Forsyth up 3-2. From there, it was Maxwell's game to close. She did, working a scoreless seventh to complete a gem: a full seven innings, two runs allowed on just two hits, 13 strikeouts, and zero walks.

"Honestly Reagan hadn't really touched her much all year — she'd only given up three hits to them all season. Once we took that lead, I felt pretty comfortable we'd hold on."

— Kevin Baity

 

The win sealed it. West Forsyth heads into the conference tournament as the top seed with a first-round bye, set to play Tuesday's semifinal against the winner of No. 6 Reynolds versus No. 4 Northwest Guilford — 5 p.m. at Reagan. Reagan gets a bye as well and will face the winner of No. 5 Parkland and No. 3 East Forsyth in the other semifinal.