RC Girls Come From Behind, Defeat ER, 3-2
Making a comeback from a 2-0 deficit, the Rockbridge County High School softball team earned a 3-2 Valley District win in eight innings last Wednesday at East Rockingham.
RC Sadie Moore brought in the winning run with a walk-off single with two outs on a fly ball to center field, driving in Bella Dorey, who sprinted from first base around second and third and then home.
“Sadie was due for a hit, too,” said RC head coach Keston Pelter. “We also had speed on the base with Bella Dorey, so as soon as the ball came off Sadie’s bat and we saw that it hit the gap between right center and right field, we gave Bella the green light to go and not stop. Sadie stayed calm at the plate and did what we asked. She put the ball in play and it paid off.”
The game was scheduled to take place at RC on Tuesday of last week, but it was postponed due to a thunderstorm and then moved to Elkton due to poor field conditions. The Wildcats (5-8 overall, 3-6 district) were still considered the home team.
With the win, RC avenged a 6-0 road loss to ER on April 14. In the rematch, the Eagles (13-5, 8-4 endured four scoreless innings before taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth.
ER’s Rowan Crenshaw hit a grounder and reached first base on an RC error, bringing home Caroline Eppard. The Eagles scored again when Bre-Ann Malin hit a grounder and reached on another RC error, driving in Crenshaw.
The Wildcats weren’t able to score with runners in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth, but they came through in the sixth. After Dorey hit a grounder and reached first base on an error, Page Wright singled on a grounder to third base. Dorey then stole third and stole home, and Wright scored on a groundout to second base by Gabby Brown, tying the game 2-2.
With the score tied after seven innings, the game went into an eighth inning. The Eagles got two singles in the top of eighth, but the Wildcats then secured three outs.
In the bottom of the eighth, Dorey walked to set up Moore for the game-winning single. The Eagles threw a strikeout and got the second out on a flyout, but Moore pulled through with the clutch hit.
Pelter called the victory “a big win” and added, “I am really proud of the girls and how they played Wednesday. There were a few hiccups early in the game, but the girls played hard, and they finally put all the pieces together and found a way to come back and win.”
For the game, the Eagles recorded seven hits, while the Wildcats had five. RC committed five errors and the Eagles had one. Lillian Lawson led ER with three hits, while four other Eagles each had one hit. Moore paced RC with two hits, while Wright, Parker Dameron and Willow Rogers each had one hit.
On the mound, Moore pitched a complete game, throwing to her catcher, Dameron, striking out three while allowing seven hits, no walks and two unearned runs. “I’m really proud of both Parker Dameron and Sadie Moore,” said Pelter. “They’ve been a great pitcher/ catcher combo this season. On Wednesday, Sadie hit her spots from the circle, and Parker framed the ball well for her and made key plays behind the plate.
ER’s Adalyn Good pitched the first five innings, striking out 10 while surrendering four hits, no walks and two runs, one of them earned. In the final 2.2 innings, Eppard pitched for the Eagles, striking out four while surrendering one hit, two walks and one earned run.
The victory gives the Wildcats a better chance of improving their seeding for the upcoming Region 3C tournament. For the postseason schedule and updates, visit www. thenews-gazette.com.
RC was scheduled to play host to Staunton last Thursday, but that game was canceled and won’t be made up because Staunton is in a different district.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to district rival Rocktown for a doubleheader on Monday before playing host to Turner Ashby today, Wednesday, at 5 p.m. in a game that was rescheduled from last Friday due to a thunderstorm.
On Friday, the Wildcats will conclude the regular season when they play host to district rival Broadway at 5 p.m.
