Blues Held To One Hit; RC Pulls Away
With strong pitching and key hits late in the game, the Rockbridge County High School softball team earned a 5-1 road win over local rival Parry McCluer to complete a sweep of the season series on Saturday afternoon in Buena Vista.
Junior Sadie Moore struck out 12 and allowed just one hit, two walks and one unearned run to earn the win for the Wildcats (4-6), while senior Alysa Wheeler pitched for the Fighting Blues (4-10), striking out three while surrendering eight hits, no walks and five runs, three of them earned.
The rematch was much closer than their previous meeting on April 5 at RC, when the Wildcats cruised to an 11-1 win in five innings.
In last month’s game, the Wildcats had faced senior Olivia Julian, but Julian was away on Saturday, and it took a while for the Wildcats to adjust to the slower pitching of Wheeler.
“We tried to adjust to the pitching because we’re used to seeing all different styles of pitching and speeds,” said RC head coach Keston Pelter, guiding the Wildcats again for the first time since giving birth to her son on April 17. “Everyone’s competitive in the Valley District, so we have been used to having some competitive pitching and speed and then having to adjust today, but we finally were able to get the ball in play, a little later than when I would’ve liked.”
Praising Wheeler for her performance, PM head coach Troy Clark said, “She throws slower, but today she was hitting her spots, and she was consistent, and that’s all I’m asking of her.”
“Alysa pitched well,” added Clark. “She did a nice job.”
Both teams were ending a busy week, with the Wildcats coming off two road losses and the Blues having dropped two games before cruising to a 23-6 road win over Pioneer District rival Craig County on Thursday. (See separate stories.)
On Saturday, PM took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when freshman Sophie Chittum hit a grounder and got to second base on an error, bringing home Logan Vest. The Wildcats then ended the inning by making a double play, with an out at first base and at home plate.
The Wildcats tied the game 1-1 in the top of the third when Brooke Hostetter scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Page Wright.
PM recorded its lone hit in the bottom of the third when freshman Jordyn Hostetter singled on a bunt to third base, but Moore ended the inning with a strikeout.
In the fifth, RC took a 2-1 lead when Gabby Brown singled on a grounder to left field to drive in Bella Dorey.
The Wildcats added three more runs in the top of the sixth. After singles by Parker Dameron and Landrey Campbell, Willow Rogers doubled to center field to bring home courtesy runner Brooklyn Beverly, and Campbell scored on a groundout by Cameron Terry. RC scored the final run of the game when Brooke Hostetter hit a grounder to left field and reached second base on a PM error, driving in Rogers.
Campbell led RC with two hits, while six different Wildcats each had one hit.
The Blues had six freshmen playing, five starters and Zoey Tolley, moving up due to the absence of Julian and junior Kinleigh Wallace. “I was proud of them,” said Clark of his freshmen. “They played well.”
PM committed five errors, while RC had one. While pleased with the win, Pelter said the Wildcats will work on hitting the ball in gaps so they can generate more offense. “We’re still hitting it to people in spots, so if we can just get it to fall, we’ll be good,” she said.
Comparing the Blues’ performance to last month’s game against the Wildcats, Clark said, “I was proud of our effort. I think we were a little bit more relaxed. We came out and we played well. We made a few errors, but the effort today and the attitude, we were ready to play.”
