The Shadow
COVINGTON, Va. (VR) – Clean pitching and timely pressure flipped the game. Alleghany scored twice in the third and never gave the lead back, knocking off Fort Defiance 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Fort Defiance struck first in the opening inning, taking advantage of an error for a 1-0 lead. That was all the offense they’d get.
Emma Skidmore settled in and took over. Skidmore piled up strikeouts across the middle innings, fanning multiple hitters in the second, third, fourth, sixth, and seventh while working out of scattered traffic. Fort Defiance put runners on, but couldn’t finish.
Alleghany answered in the third. Maddy Lowry reached and sparked the rally, and the Cougars cashed in with aggressive baserunning and a Fort Defiance miscue. Ava Howard and Lowry both scored on a defensive error, flipping the score to 2-1.
The Cougars added insurance in the fifth. Kaylee Nicely ripped a triple to right, driving in Paige Webb to make it 3-1.
At the plate, Alleghany scattered key hits—Lowry and Paige Webb each delivered singles, Brooklyn Taylor added a base knock, and Nicely’s triple was the biggest swing of the day.
Defensively, Alleghany made the routine plays late. Brianna Terrell cut down a runner at third, and the infield closed the door behind Skidmore in the final innings.
Fort Defiance threatened multiple times but was turned away by strikeouts and a caught stealing to end the sixth. Skidmore finished it in the seventh, stranding the tying run and sealing the 3-1 win. The lady Cougars will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Rockbridge, first pitch 5:30.
