AHOSKIE – If you happened by Ridgecroft School Thursday and heard a popping sound, the shooting team wasn’t practicing.

Instead, the steady thud heard on Highway 11 was the sound of Tayler Smith’s pitches hitting the back of senior catcher Stephanie Northcott’s glove.

The eighth grade hurler for the Lady Rams struck out seven and helped lead her team to a doubleheader sweep of Terra Ceia Christian School Thursday afternoon.

The Rams rolled to a 12-1 victory in game one thanks to the solid performance of the top of the Ridgecroft lineup.

Emily Cooke was 3-for-3 with three runs scored while Northcott and Lauren Lilley each checked in at 2-for-2.

Smith was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and Keli Martin was 1-for-3 with two runs scored.

In game two, a trio of hitters had perfect performances. Martin, Smith and Northcott were each 2-for-2 with a walk. Northcott had two triples and Martin added one.

Cooke was 1-for-1 in the contest with a pair of walks and three runs scored.

In addition, Lilley had a hit, as did Jessica Bolton.

&uot;This is a great morale booster for us,&uot; second-year coach Larry Smith said. &uot;We have a lot of young girls, but we are 100 percent better.

&uot;We still have a lot of room for improvement, but hopefully we are turning the corner,&uot; he added.

The sweep improved the Rams to 3-5 overall and 3-4 inside the Tarheel Independent Conference.