The North Stokes Lady Vikings earned two different kinds of wins last week, one convincing win and another with a few more sparks.

The Lady Vikings prevailed over East Wilkes 1-0 last Wednesday in Danbury, but the most excitement came in the top of the seventh inning.

North Stokes led 1-0, and East Wilkes came to bat with one last chance.

Casey Wooten led off with a walk, and Baily Ward singled to right-center field. The runners advanced to second and third on the throw to the infield.

With no outs, Coach Michael Styers instructed his outfielders to let all foul balls drop in order to prevent the runners from tagging up.

Kendra Green popped up behind the mound, and Hannah Olsen ran over to make the grab for the first out. Allison Barnes then caught a line drive at first base, and the Lady Vikings seemed to have everything under control again.

Then, Olsen fielded a ground ball and fired to Barnes at first for the final out.

Before the Lady Vikings could leave the field, East Wilkes’ coach was pleading his case, saying that the throw pulled Barnes off first base and the runner should be safe. However, according to Styers, the home plate umpire said there couldn’t be an appeal.

After several minutes of discussion, the teams exchanged high fives and huddled up, giving North Stokes a 1-0 victory, though East Wilkes still plans to protest. Styers said East Wilkes must first win an appeal that there should have been an appeal allowed on the field before the situation will be heard. If it makes it that far, Styers said he plans to counter that the runner on third went to the dugout before crossing the plate and should be out for leaving baseline, which would end the game anyway.

Styers said that as of Tuesday there was no official word on the matter. He said that by rule there cannot be a protest because it was not an appeal play, but he’s still waiting to see what the conference decides.

After the runners had made their way to second and third, Styers called a meeting on the mound to discuss the situation.

“When I talked to them on the mound, I told them not to worry about the runner on the third, who was the tying run, but to keep the girl on second from scoring,” said Styers. “We bowed our necks and played good (defense). We didn’t catch foul balls. We made them put the ball in play, and we were fortunate enough to get the outs.”

Aside from the excitement of the final inning, the Lady Vikings also dodged a bullet in the top of the sixth.

The Lady Cardinals loaded the bases with one out when Kerry Durham drew a walk. The Lady Vikings got Brooke Lyons out at home on a fielder’s choice that left the bases loaded, and Jade Lawrence sat Emily Minton down on strikes to get out of the jam.

The Lady Cardinals didn’t advance past second base in any other inning.

Meanwhile, North Stokes also only advanced past second in two innings, but the Lady Vikings brought a runner all the way home in the second inning to provide the winning margin.

With one out in the second inning, Bethany Woods singled to center field and advanced to second when the ball got away from the Lady Cardinals.

With two outs, Amelia Oakley singled to center field to bring Woods home and give North Stokes a 1-0 lead.

North Stokes threatened again in the bottom of the third inning after Olsen hit a line drive single to right-center field and stole second base. However, the next three Lady Vikings were retired to end the threat.

East Wilkes first significant scoring threat came in the fifth inning. After the first two batters were retired, Wooten drew a walk, and Ward reached on an error. However, Green flied out to Megan Rogers in left field to end the inning.

North Stokes nearly added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning. Chelsey Stovall led off with a single down the third base line, and Lawrence singled up the middle. With one out, Woods reached on a fielder’s choice that moved Stovall to third and left Lawrence out at second.

The Lady Cardinals got out of the inning to set up the dramatic seventh frame.

Styers said he got a little anxious in the final two innings, especially in the top of the sixth. “When they loaded the bases, I got worried. The way we were playing atom ball, I was worried about scoring one run.”

Styers said the Lady Vikings had no problems bunting, hitting or running the bases. “We just couldn’t get past third,” he said.

North Stokes finished with six hits and two errors. Woods led the way, going 1-for-2 with a run. Oakley finished 1-for-2 with a run, and Olsen, Stovall, Lawrence and McKenzie Collins each went 1-for-3.

Lawrence pitched a complete game for her fourth win of the year. She allowed three hits and four walks while striking out seven batters.

East Wilkes finished with three hits and two errors. Katie Mahan was 1-for-2, while Ward and Lyons each went 1-for-3.

Durham pitched six innings, allowing one run on six hits while striking out four.

North Stokes also defeated Mount Airy 16-1 last Tuesday. The Lady Vikings scored eight runs in the first inning, which Olsen capped with a two-run triple. After adding two runs in the second inning, North Stokes scored three in the third and in the fourth to blow the game open.

Collins led the offense, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, and Woods was 3-for-4 with a double.

Lawrence earned the win on the mound.

With the wins, North Stokes improved to 4-4 overall and 4-2 in the Northwest 1-A. The Lady Vikings will visit Elkin tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. and host Bishop McGuinness on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The Lady Vikings will also visit North Surry on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.