Blues Cruise To 25-2 Win Over Rocktown
Things could not have started better for a young Parry McCluer High School softball team.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning last Wednesday afternoon in Buena Vista, the Blues bounced back with a whopping 16 runs in their half of the frame and rolled past Rocktown 25-2 in five innings to begin the 2026 campaign.
“It was a good game for us, being so young,” said 12th-year PM head coach Troy Clark, who noted that his team opened the season with only one senior and just two juniors. “I was pleased with that.”
The Blues ended the first week of the season at 1-1 after falling at Rockbridge County 17-0 in five innings on Thursday. (See separate story.)
Last Wednesday, the Blues spotted the Raptors a 2-0 lead after surrendering two walks and a single, along with a pair of errors. But PM responded with the explosive bottom of the first, tallying its 16 runs on 10 hits.
Freshman Caroline Watts started the rally with a single in her first varsity start and later stole home on a double steal for the first PM run of the season. By the time the dust settled in the inning, the Blues had batted around twice, and 12 of the 16 runs scored with two outs.
Watts finished with three hits in the inning, and sophomore Sophia Bouchelle doubled, singled and picked up four RBIs. Alyssa Snider drove in three runs in the inning on a fielder’s choice and a double. All nine PM batters reached base at least once in the inning, and seven of the nine crossed the plate twice.
“We fell behind, but [Caroline] got us going,” Clark said. “Then we opened it up a little bit. The second time through the lineup, that’s when we put the hits together. You could just feel the confidence rising as we went through the inning.”
The Blues, who tacked on seven more runs in the second, were paced offensively by Watts, who had five hits in her five trips to the plate, scoring three times and driving in three runs. Junior Kendall Painter went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs; Bouchelle was 2-for-2 with three runs and five RBIs; and sophomore Zoey Tolley had two hits, two runs and two runs batted in.
Watts also picked up the win on the mound, pitching the first two innings and surrendering two unearned runs while striking out two. Painter closed it out with her threeinning effort, fanning five of the 10 batters she faced.
Last year, the Blues went 5-13 overall and 3-2 in the Pioneer District to finish second to Eastern Montgomery in the district. They graduated five players from last year’s team, led by all-region players Olivia Julian, Logan Vest and Alysa Wheeler. Julian, who was mainly a pitcher for the Blues, is now a first baseman for West Virginia University Potomac State College, a Division II national junior college in Keyser, W. Va.
This year’s young PM team has just one senior, Kinleigh Wallace, an all-district selection last year, and they also return six other players, including four all-district players from last year: Painter, Hill and sophomores Sophie Chittum and Jordyn Hostetter. Also returning are Bouchelle and sophomore Harleigh Fulwider.
“As we play, I think we’ll get better,” Clark said. “It’s a good group of girls. They play together and they play for each other.”
Returning as assistant coaches for the Blues are Jimmy Emore, Keith Ruley and Hunter Turpin.
