PM Softball Team Completes Rebuilding Year
With most of the Parry Mc-Cluer High School softball roster, which included seven freshmen, one of the last things the Blues could afford to do is fall behind early when Region 1C tournament play began last week. That’s exactly what happened, however, as the Fighting Blues (5-13) spotted visiting Fort Chiswell an 8-0 lead and suffered a 12-1 home loss on Thursday in Buena Vista.
“They hit the ball,” said PM head coach Troy Clark of the Pioneers (16-6), who banged out nine of their 21 hits in the first two innings. “They put it in play, and they found the gaps.”
When the Pioneers swung the bats, they typically made contact. Pitchers for PM failed to record a strikeout in the game, and every member of the Fort Chiswell lineup had at least one hit.
The hit parade began in the first inning. Jenna Ball singled to start the first Fort Chiswell rally, and after Katelyn Jackson walked, Lily Goforth singled to drive in one run. Krista King followed with a double to drive in two more, and the Pioneers had a 3-0 lead, an advantage they would not relinquish.
The Blues had a couple of chances to cut into the deficit but could not come through with the big hit. Alysa Wheeler singled to open the second inning, and she moved to second on Jordyn Hostetter’s sacrifice bunt. But the next two Parry McCluer batters ended that threat.
In the fourth, Olivia Julian and Sophie Chittum were hit by pitches to start things. Neither moved any farther as Jackson, on the mound for the Pioneers, struck out the next three PM batters.
“That was one of the most disappointing things,” said Clark of his team’s inability to plate those early runs. “We didn’t even get the ball in play.”
Much of that was due to the work of Jackson, who went the distance to pick up the win for the Pioneers. The senior hurler allowed just one run on four hits while striking out 12 and walking none.
“She’s one of the top two pitchers we’ve seen this year,” said Clark. “The first couple of innings, we just couldn’t lay off [the rise ball].”
The Blues avoided the shutout and finally got through against Jackson in the fifth inning. With two outs in the inning, Logan Vest singled and raced around to score on Kendall Painter’s RBI double on a line drive to right field.
The Pioneers, who led 8-0 after those fateful first two innings, put the game away with two runs each in the sixth and seventh.
Jenna Ball and Kimberlyn Hart led the offense for Fort, banging out four hits apiece. Goforth finished the game with three hits and three RBIs.
Clark said the Blues’ record does not necessarily say all that needs to be said about the 2025 campaign, during which they went 3-2 in the Pioneer District and advanced to the district championship game before falling 10-1 at Eastern Montgomery.
“We’re young, but I do like the way they always fought,” said the PM coach, reserving special praise for his five seniors: Vest, Julian, Wheeler, Natalie Mohler and Remi Hickman. “We got better each week. Our seniors did a good job of taking those younger girls under their wings. That had a lot to do with us getting better.”
FIGHTING BLUE sophomore second baseman Kendall Painter fields the ball as Fort Chiswell’s Katelyn Frazier reaches the bag. At the plate, Painter had an RBI double to bring in PM’s only run. (Ronnie Coffey photo)
PM FRESHMAN Sara Dudley slides into third base to beat the tag by Fort Chiswell’s Kimberlyn Hart. (Ronnie Coffey photo)
