Facing tough pitching and strong hitting, the Parry McCluer High School softball team concluded its season with a 12-0 home loss in five innings to George Wythe in the Region 1C quarterfinals last Wednesday in Buena Vista.
The Fighting Blues wrapped up the year with a record of 9-12, while the Maroons (21-4) advanced to a Region 1C semifinal game at Giles (14-8) on Monday.
GW jumped on the Blues early, taking a 1-0 lead in the first when Avery Cline doubled on a line drive to left field to bring home Emma Faulkner. After the first inning, lightning delayed the game 30 minutes. GW scored eight runs across three innings before play was halted a second time by lightning. GW scored its final three runs in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, PM’s Lexi Armstrong singled to left field with two outs and then stole second base on a wild pitch, but GW’s Morgan Layne ended the game with a strikeout. For the game, Layne struck out eight while allowing three hits and no walks in the shutout.
Pitching a complete game for the Blues was freshman Caroline Watts, striking out two while surrendering 14 hits, three walks and 12 runs (eight earned).
Madalyn Morris led GW with four hits, while Faulkner recorded three hits and three RBIs, and Cline and Brooklyn Ross each had two. Recording one hit each for PM were Armstrong, Kendall Painter and Zoey Tolley. PM committed two errors, while GW had none.
The young Blues, who had no seniors, went 5-5 to finish third in the Pioneer District this year and made progress throughout the season. In the first three weeks of May, they went on a five-game winning streak that included a 16-6 upset win at second-seeded Narrows in the district semifinals. Their winning streak ended with a 23-1 loss at top seed Eastern Montgomery in the district finals.
The Blues, who graduated five seniors from last year’s 5-13 team, had two juniors this year, 10 sophomores and two freshmen. “We had a very young team and we made so much progress from the beginning of the season to the end of the season,” said PM head coach Troy Clark. “We made some mistakes early in the year but played hard every game. They worked hard, learned from their mistakes and stayed together as a team. It is not how you start but how you finish. We grew as a team, and the future is bright because everyone is back.”
