East Lincoln Mustangs take softball program into uncharted NCHSAA territory

East Lincoln won a girls’ softball conference championship and advanced deep into the playoffs the past two seasons.

But coach Roger Wilson wanted his team to think ahead.

“I have challenged the team to put the achievements from the past two years behind us, and to focus on ‘the now,’ ” he said before the season started. “I’m really excited about this team.”

So far, it’s mission accomplished.

The Mustangs (23-2) have gone further than the school’s last two softball teams, winning the West Regional title.

And this weekend, they aim at the ultimate achievement — a state championship.

East Lincoln faces the latest in a series of Alamance County state finalists (more about that later), Western Alamance (22-3), in the 3A best-of-3 softball finals.

Both teams are making their first appearances in the championship series.

The teams’ series begins at 6 p.m. on Friday at the UNCG Softball Stadium in Greensboro.

Last year had a painful finish for the Mustangs. They rolled to a 24-0 record but fell to Central Davidson in the regional semifinals, 2-1 in 10 innings.

They lost three starters to graduation, including slugger Taliyah Thomas, who slammed 13 home runs, drove in 42 runs, and stole 14 bases. Thomas, now at USC Upstate, batted .494.

But most of the key pieces returned this season.

Thomas’ younger sister Taniyah, a sophomore, is not the slugger that Taliyah was, but she is hitting .508 with 31 hits. The power-hitting duties have been taken over by senior catcher Betsy Eatmon, who has 13 homers, 39 RBI and is batting .468.

Junior Madison Currence (.426 batting average with 10 doubles), senior Jaelyn Freeston (.429, 10 doubles, 33 RBI), and junior Tatum Martin (.477) support East Lincoln’s explosive offense.

And the Mustangs don’t rely solely on power to score runs. They’ve been successful on 70-of-76 stolen-base attempts this season and can manufacture runs if needed.

The pitcher is Leah Correll, who is 20-2 with a 1.56 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 138.2 innings pitched.

Western Alamance continues a remarkable run of success for Alamance County. This is the fourth straight championship series in which a team from the county represents the East Region. Eastern Alamance reached the finals in 2019 and last year, and Southern Alamance (now in 4A) was the East’s 2021 champion.

COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 state championship.

Western Alamance is built around senior Taylor Apple, an East Carolina commit.

Apple is batting .577, with 11 doubles, 12 home runs, and 45 RBI. She also pitches and has a 22-3 record with 333 strikeouts in 156 innings.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle