ROANOKE, Va. – Friday served as the semifinal rounds for VHSL State Tournaments across the Commonwealth with many of our local teams looking for a chance to play for a championship.
On the baseball diamond, the Alleghany Mountaineers were hoping to keep their magical season going in what is the farewell season for the school as we know it. The Mountaineers started off solid against Poquoson. After scoring its first run on a groundout, Connor McPeek hit a ball into shallow left field. That scored Christopher Harden and gave the team a 2-0 lead.
But, errors proved to hurt the Mountaineers. In fact, Poquoson yielded three runs off of fielding errors and would take a 5-2 advantage. While Alleghany scored two more runs late in the game, it wouldn’t be enough. Poquoson prevailed with a 5-4 victory.
In Class 3, Cave Spring battled Caroline and would also get off to a fast start. In the opening inning, Chase Speller’s hit was good enough to score Gary Proctor for the 1-0 lead. But the Cavaliers tied the game in the bottom half of the 1st before scoring 4 runs in the second inning. Caroline won 9-7.
In other area baseball action, Patrick County advances to the state finals in Class 2, downing Buckingham 10-3 to advance. In Class 3 Liberty Christian Academy was ousted by New Kent 12-8. And Auburn will play for the Class 1 title after downing Lancaster 5-0.
In Class 2 softball, James River found itself in another close battle this time with King William. Jenna Pugh started the game off right for the Knights: a leadoff solo home run. James River led 1-0 but not for long. Jillian Smith hit a fastball down the third base line to score the tying run, a 1-1 ballgame.
From then on, it was a pitcher’s duel as Austyn Moran and Taylor Johnson were nearly unhittable. Their stellar play in the circle mixed with great defense forced extra innings. In the top of the 8th with a runner on base, Moran laid down a bunt. What should’ve been a routine throw to first for the out turned into an error and the go-ahead run coming across home plate. The Knights held on to their one-run lead and ended the game on a double play to advance to the final.
“It’s the only reason we’re here is because we have that kind of defense and we’re not scared to make plays,” said James River head coach Steve Austin. “As I said earlier, stealing a quote from Ryan Willis ‘Scared money doesn’t make money’ so we gamble a little bit because we got nothing to lose.”
“I’m very confident in my team, we’re running on a high right now and we’re just so confident in ourselves because we just work so hard to get here,” said Knights senior pitcher Austyn Moran.
In Class 3 softball, Northside defeated New Kent in a close 1-0 ballgame. Abbie Caldwell hit a sacrifice fly allowing McKenzie Taylor to score in the third inning. While New Kent had the tying run at third base in the bottom of the 7th inning, Bailee Compton picked up a pair of key strikeouts to send the Vikings to the Class 3 Final.
“Defensively we’ve been talking a lot at practice about 21 outs, you’ve got to play from the first pitch to the last pitch, and anywhere between there gets lost,” said Northside head coach Kassie Brammer. “It’s all about that next one. I think the girls, even when mistakes are made, it’s a game of failure, we have each other’s backs. Go get that next one and that’s what we were able to do so we came through.”
In Class 1, Auburn got an early run against Buffalo Gap and made it stand up for a 1-0 win. The Eagles rode the pitching of JMU commit Kirsten Fleet for the win. They will play for back-to-back titles tomorrow when they face Rye Cove.
On the soccer pitch, the amazing story of the Eastern Montgomery girls continues. The Mustangs hammered Northampton 9-0 behind a barrage of early goals. East Mont hasn’t lost a game in nearly four years--the current win streak stands at 53, including back-to-back VHSL titles. They will go for a three-peat tomorrow when they face county rival Auburn. In Class 2 girls, Glenvar ran into undefeated Clarke Co and fell 6-0.
On the boy’s side, Jefferson Forest was coming off back-to-back state runner-up finishes--and they were hoping to finally cash in. But they fell behind 2-0 early against Jamestown and were never able to generate the offense needed. They fall 2-0 in the Class 4 semifinals.