Moore Breaks RC Record For Season Strikeouts
In the final week of the regular season, the Rockbridge County High School softball team lost a pair of Shenandoah District games, suffering a 12-2 setback in five innings at home against Fort Defiance on Tuesday of last week before falling 2-1 last Wednesday at Alleghany.
With the losses, the Wildcats fell to 10-8 overall, and 7-9 in the district, but they are scheduled to start the Region 3C tournament on the road this week because they finished in the top 12 in Region 3C. For the regional tournament schedule and updates, visit www.thenews-gazette. com.
Fort Defiance (11-8 overall, 10-5 district) completed a sweep of the season series with RC. When the teams met on April 16 at Fort, the Indians won 11-0 in five innings.
Despite the loss, it was a special night for the Wildcats, particularly for senior Sadie Moore. Pitching all five innings, Moore struck out four and broke the single-season program record for strikeouts. The previous mark was 161, and Moore finished the night with 165 strikeouts on the season and would add two more the next day for a total of 167. Through last Wednesday’s game, Moore had 414 career strikeouts, also a program record.
Reflecting on the meaning of the records, Moore said a lot of the credit goes to her father, Keith, who’s worked with her on her pitching over the years and is an assistant coach for the Wildcats. “I put in a lot of time, me and my dad,” she said. “He’s been there through it all. It’s very exciting, and I get to leave my mark on the school.”
Moore, who will continue her academic and softball career at Division III school Roanoke College, said all of her coaches have helped and added, “I couldn’t do it without my team.”
Fort 12, Rockbridge 2
Fort took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Sherri Marshall singled on a grounder to left field to drive in Caroline Hanger.
The Wildcats tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first when Moore hit a pop fly and reached first base on an error, bringing home Bella Dorey.
The Indians answered in the top of the second when Alexis Miller scored on a groundout by Brailyn Breeden to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. Fort added three more runs, on a triple and two doubles in the third, to extend its lead to 5-1.
In the bottom of the third, the Wildcats scored when Gracie Pelter singled on a hard grounder to second base to bring home Dorey, cutting Fort’s lead to 5-2. However, that was the end of RC’s scoring for the day.
Fort scored its remaining seven runs in the top of the fifth, starting with a solo home run by Marshall and scoring the other six on four doubles and an RC error.
Moore got a single for RC in the bottom of the fifth, but none of the other Wildcats got on base, as Fort ended the game early due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Fort racked up 15 hits, while RC had seven. Leading the Indians with three hits each were Hanger, Marshall, Miller and Peyton Simmons. Pelter paced the Wildcats with two hits.
“We hit it, but we hit it right to people,” said RC head coach Keston Pelter. “If we can hit the gaps, we’re gonna be OK.”
On the mound for Fort, Breeden pitched all five innings, striking out six while surrendering seven hits, one walk and two runs (one earned). RC committed four errors while Fort had one.
Before the game, the Wildcats honored their six seniors: Moore, Dorey, Brooklyn Beverly, Landrey Campbell, Willow Rogers and Page Wright.
Alleghany 2, RC 1
The Wildcats wrapped up the regular season with a 2-1 loss to Alleghany in six innings in a lightning-shortened game last Wednesday in Covington.
Alleghany (13-6, 10-5), which had beaten RC 10-0 in five innings on April 24 in Lexington, got behind early when Moore scored on a groundout to second base by Gracie Pelter in the top of the second.
However, the Cougars tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third when Ava Howard singled on a pop fly to right field to bring home Callie Uzzell. Alleghany scored its other run later in the inning when Brianna Terrell singled on a bunt to third base to drive in Madison Lowry.
With neither team scoring the rest of the way, the game was stopped due to lightning in the bottom of the sixth.
Alleghany registered seven hits, while RC had five. Uzzell and Howard led the Cougars with two hits each. Recording one hit each for the Wildcats were Dorey, Moore, Pelter, Rogers and Eliana Lawrie.
On the mound, Addyson Neff pitched all six innings for Alleghany, striking out seven while allowing five hits, three walks and one earned run.
Moore pitched for RC, striking out two while surrendering seven hits, two walks and two runs (one earned).
The Wildcats committed two errors while the Cougars had none.
