WINCHESTER — James Wood didn’t exactly tear the cover off of the softball during its Region 4D quarterfinal against Orange County on Friday at Ridge Field, but the Colonels didn’t need a lot of hits.
Taking advantage of multiple errors, wild pitches and passed balls along with an outfield mishap, James Wood got the lead early and rolled behind Sophia Gerald’s complete game to a 6-3 triumph.
The Colonels (18-3), the second seed from the North Division, will travel to play top-seeded Sherando at 6 p.m. on Monday at Sherando Park with berths in the regional final and state tournament on the line.
“When they give you extra outs you have to take advantage of them,” said James Wood coach Patrick Gibson, whose squad took the lead for good on an unearned run in the second inning. “We had a job to do and we did it tonight. Sometimes it’s about putting pressure on the defense, and we did that.”
“It’s very important,” said senior Brynnen Williams, who blasted a long solo homer in the fourth inning. “We feed off of it. If we get on a roll and put the ball into play, we’re going to make it. That’s how we score runs. Putting pressure on the defense is key in those kind of moments. In a playoff game, those kind of things can win or break a game.”
Orange County (16-6) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Mia Babcock’s RBI single, but the Colonels came right back to tie it without a hit. With one out, Aubrey Nail bunted and the ball was thrown too high at first base, allowing Nail to reach second. Taylor Fishel then hit a grounder that was thrown high and wide of first and Nail hustled around to tie the score at 1-1.
Gerald hit a one-out single in the second and courtesy runner Maggie Maynard came around to score on an error, passed ball and wild pitch.
Gerald then made some big pitches in the third inning to preserve the lead. Emma Mastin led off with a bloop single and then raced from first to third on Elizabeth Williford’s sacrifice bunt. Gerald stranded Mastin there, getting a strikeout and fly out to end the threat.
“Normally when there’s a runner at second or third, I’m always thinking to myself, ‘I don’t want them to score,’” Gerald said. “I thinking like a pop-up or a strikeout will keep them from advancing.”
The Colonels extended the lead in the bottom of the inning after Faith Wilson replaced Hornets starter Kara Fincham. Nail bunted for a hit and the ball was thrown into right field. Nail was going to hold at first, but the Orange County outfielder misplayed the bouncing ball, allowing Nail to race around to third. Fishel then drew a walk and swiped second. Kati Brannon and Kayleigh Harden followed with an RBI groundout each to extend the lead to 4-1.
The margin grew again an inning later. With one out, Marleigh DeHaven hit a fly ball into the left-center gap and the two Orange County outfielders collided. The ball rolled to the fence and DeHaven sped around to third with a triple. With Williams at the plate after an out, DeHaven came home on a passed ball.
Deprived of an opportunity for an RBI, Williams then created one for herself. The reigning Winchester Star Player of the Year pulled a 1-2 pitch deep over the six-foot fence in right field to make the score 6-1.
“I was definitely frustrated with my first two plate appearances, so I kind of took it out on the ball a little bit,” said Williams of her blast, her first over the right-field fence this season. “I was like, ‘Alright, make up for it.’ I told myself to go opposite field and sit back on it …. but I caught it right on the sweet spot.”
The Colonels didn’t go without some fielding woes of their own, but Gerald was able to limit the damage of the miscues.
Babcock’s second RBI single plated an unearned run in the fifth inning as Gerald stranded a pair of baserunners.
In the seventh, Mastin doubled, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Babcock’s RBI grounder. Babcock reached via an error on the play to bring up cleanup hitter Addison Lovell. Gerald got Lovell to smack a grounder to the shortstop Williams, who turned a 6-4-3 double play with second baseman Brannon to end the game.
“That’s always awesome,” Williams said. “Me and Kati love turning double plays. It was definitely the highlight of our night.”
Gerald allowed eight hits, struck out four and did not walk a batter. Nine of the outs came on pop flies.
“It was my curveball and relying on my defense a lot,” Gerald said when asked on what worked for her most against the Hornets. “It helps a lot when you can rely on your defense, especially in moments like these.”
“I thought she was pretty dominant,” Gibson said. “… They got that one run early, but then she was pretty shutdown. They had some bloop hits here and there, but I thought for the most part she was pretty dominant.”
Next up for the Colonels is top-seeded Sherando (19-2). The Warriors topped James Wood 6-2 in the season-opener for both teams and 11-3 on April 23.
The two programs are very familiar with each other and several of their players compete together on summer travel teams.
“I think we’re ready,” Gerald said. “I’m really excited. It’s going to be a good game. We’re both good teams. It’s just going to be a really fun faceoff.”
“We definitely have a chip on our shoulder,” Williams said. “It’s a friendly game. We just have to realize that we’re there to do our job and it’s not friendships and giggles. We need to go there and take care of business. They’re doing the same thing.”
The Colonels hitters will be facing longtime Sherando pitcher Lily Wray, who blanked Millbrook over the final six innings of a 7-2 win on Thursday.
“She’s that good,” Gibson said of Wray, who is headed to Shenandoah University. “She’s just a stud pitcher. I’ve seen it with my own eyes in travel ball. I have her on my team. She shuts down a lot of good teams. Hopefully, the third time we can get to her a little bit.”
Gibson said the key to winning will be simple.
“It’s going to come down to whoever executes in the moment,” he said. “It’s going to be a big game and a lot of people there.”