Eight Rockbridge County High School athletes from the girls and boys soccer, baseball and softball teams received all-district honors last week.
The RC girls soccer team, which went 10-7-0 overall for its most wins in program history and finished 9-5-0 in the Valley District, had four players named all-district. Three seniors – forwards Lucy Boller-Pinkham and Madelyn Jones and defender Madeline Swisher – were selected to the all-district first team. Senior midfielder Lydia Kendall was named to the all-district second team.
Jones finished her career with 58 goals, including the game winner in the eighthseeded Wildcats’ 3-2 overtime win over ninth-seeded Broadway in the first round of the Region 3C tournament last Wednesday at Southern Virginia University. It was the first-ever regional tournament win for the Wildcats, guided by second-year head coach Danny Wheeler. The Wildcats ended their season with a 7-0 road loss to top seed Wilson Memorial on Saturday.
For the RC boys soccer team, junior defender Gêne Kähler was named to the alldistrict second team. Under the direction of first-year head coach Jeff Tomlin, the Wildcats went 2-14-0 overall and 1-13-0 in the Valley District, losing seven of their games by just one or two goals.
From the RC baseball team, seniors Clay Irvine and Nolan Stines were selected to the all-district second team. Irvine was a pitcher and utility player, while Stines was a center fielder. Irvine pitched the Wildcats to a 5-2 upset win at home over Valley District rival Turner Ashby in the final game of the season on May 24, and he pitched a perfect game when the Wildcats beat Harrisonburg 15-0 in three innings on April 15 in Lexington. Stines will continue his academic and baseball career at Bluefield University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division I school in Southwest Virginia.
Guided by sixth-year head coach Travis Roadcap, the Wildcats went 8-11 overall and 6-8 in the district, coming up a bit short of making the Region 3C tournament.
From the RC softball team, junior pitcher Sadie Moore was named to the all-district second team for the second year in a row. Moore was consistent and strong on the mound throughout the year, and she was a leader at the plate also. One of the highlights of the season was when Moore hit a walk-off single to bring in the winning run in the Wildcats’ 3-2 upset road victory over district rival East Rockingham on May 14.
Under the direction of sixthyear head coach Keston Pelter, the Wildcats went 7-11 overall and 5-8 in the district. As the 12th seed in the Region 3C tournament, they ended the season with a 10-0 loss in five innings at fifth-seeded Brookville in the first round of the Region 3C tournament on Saturday.
All-district honors for Parry McCluer High School baseball and softball teams, along with honors for the RC lacrosse teams, will be announced later.
