The Shadow
SPRINGWOOD – A headline pitching match-up.
Some spectacular defensive efforts.
A chaotic ending.
This battle of Pioneer District softball favorites had it all here Tuesday.
James River’s Hailey Cook drew a one-out bases loaded walk in the last of the eighth to cap a three-run rally and lift the Knights past Bath County, 3-2, in the league opener for both teams.
Jenna Sprinkle, Hannah Morrow and Conner Sprinkle all had hits in the decisive inning.
“Neither team deserved to lose this game,” said veteran James River coach John Shotwell. “But our girls really stepped up to the task in that last inning.”
River freshman right-hander Jess Simmons and Bath southpaw sophomore Jailyn Ford matched zeroes in the circle over the front seven frames.
It was the Chargers that struck first in the top of the eighth.
Using the international tiebreaker rule – starting with a runner on second base to begin the inning – Bath scored twice on a bizarre two-out play.
Emily Bartley beat out a bunt – the only Bath hit of the game – to put runners on the corners, but two outs later it looked like Simmons would wiggle out of the jam.
Then came the unusual.
Hannah Robertson’s dribbler in front of the plate was fielded by Simmons, who tried to pick runner Amanda Shifflett off third.
But Simmons’ throw to the shortstop covering glanced off the third baseman and both Shifflett and Bartley scored.
The two-run play wasn’t going to be enough, however.
Jenna Sprinkle’s RBI single scored pinch-runner Heather Funk, and following a Morrow base hit, Conner Sprinkle belted an RBI knock to right to tie the game.
Dee Seeman reached on a fielder’s choice with one out to load the bases and Cook forced home the winning run, taking a 3-2 pitch for a walk, the only free pass issued by Ford in the game.
“We just kept putting the bat on the ball in the last inning,” Shotwell said. “That was a great comeback.”
Simmons was spectacular in the circle for the Knights (1-0 Pioneer District, 6-2 overall), striking out 18 and allowing just one baserunner through regulation, pitching around the dangerous Ford for a four-pitch walk in the seventh.
Simmons struck out the first 10 Chargers she faced in the game and 13 of the first 15.
The effort drew high praise from Shotwell.
“I don’t think even ‘Tinch’ did that,” Shotwell said of the 10 whiffs to start the game.
Tinch?
That would be Angela Tincher, who led the Knights to a pair of state championships, was the national player of the year at Virginia Tech, played professionally both in the United States and Japan and currently serves as the pitching coach at Syracuse University.
“That was quite a feat for a girl that was pitching JV last year,” Shotwell added. “She didn’t even pitch all the games last year.”
Equally as good was Ford, who tied a state record a week ago with her third straight no-hitter.
Ford, who plays with a number of the James River players in summer travel ball, struck out eight Knights and allowed just a pair of hits over the first seven innings.
The Chargers turned a pair of double plays, one on a diving stab in front of the plate by Ford and another capped by the hustle of third baseman Erica Plecker.
Robertson, the BC right fielder, took extra bases from Hope Falls with a diving catch to end the fourth.
“Jailyn pitched well and I couldn’t ask for more from our defense – I just wish we could have hit,” said BCHS coach Lisa Baugh.
The two teams will hook up again in Hot Springs on April 27.
“They already wanted it,” said Baugh. “Now, there going to want it even more.”
The Chargers (0-1, 6-2) play three times next week, hosting Craig County on Monday, traveling to Covington on Wednesday and entertaining Parry McCluer on Friday.
