Sherando softball deals Wood 1st loss

April 11, 2012
By Robert Stocks

STEPHENS CITY — Sherando needed a big win to get back in the Northwestern District softball race, and juniors Courtney Reid and Katie Seymour delivered the Warriors’ biggest victory of the season.

Reid scattered seven hits and allowed just one run, and Seymour added a home run in the bottom of the sixth to seal a 3-1 victory over previously unbeaten James Wood at Sherando Park on Tuesday night.
“It’s a huge team win,” said Sherando coach Clarence Smith. “We had a couple of bumps on the way in the game today and the girls persevered through that. There was mention of how we got off to a slow start in the district and the girls wanted to try to make amends for that and obviously taking on the team that’s ranked No. 1 in our district is a good start.”

The Warriors (6-4, 2-3) not only took them on, but also became the first district team to take down the Colonels (4-6, 3-1).

On a chilly evening with an unrelenting wind blowing out to right field, Reid (5-3) needed to dig deep to close out the Colonels in the top of the seventh.

After Deanna Madagan reached on a error and Megan Christian singled to start the seventh, Reid struck out Colonel leadoff hitter Morgan Sykes (1 for 3 with a walk).

Reid then retired Hayley Whitacre on a grounder to short, but Madagan moved to third and Christian advanced to second on the play.

With runners on second and third with two outs, Reid retired Wood No. 3 hitter Rachael Largent with grounder back to Reid in the pitcher’s circle to end it.

“This win is definitely an energy booster and attitude booster for us,” said Reid, who struck out six and walked three. “It’s motivation for us for the rest of the season but we still have to be pushing through the rest of the season. They were undefeated in the district but we knew we could come out and execute against them.”

Sherando certainly executed well, making the most of its five hits off of James Wood starting pitcher Kierstyn Peacoe.

Seymour played a big part in Sherando’s final two runs. She led off the fourth inning with a double up the middle, and then scored after a single to right by Haley Miles.

The Colonels scored their only run in the top of the fifth. Amanda Higgins singled to start the inning, and she scored after Sykes reached on a fielder’s choice to cut the Warriors’ lead to 2-1.

James Wood threatened in the top of the sixth, getting a leadoff single from Peacoe and then a double down the right-field line by junior first baseman Charlotte Viands.

Whitney Dick followed and sent a line drive into center, but Leake charged in to make a diving grab. Peacoe scored from third on the play, but Sherando appealed and the homeplate umpire ruled Peacoe left third without tagging up. The call not only took Wood’s tying run off the board, but also resulted in a momentum-shifting double play.

James Wood third-base coach Todd Baker protested the call to no avail, and then Reid struck out Higgins to end the inning.

Smith said his defense played well against the Colonels, particularly with Leake’s diving catch in the sixth.

“Fantastic — Megan Leake out there in center field,” Smith said. “I’ve known her since she was in the seventh grade, and I’ve told her that those are the type of plays I’ve been expecting from her all along. She’s finally coming into her own and she’s getting that confidence that if the ball’s up in the air it’s her territory. That was a huge double play there.”

James Wood coach Ted McDaniel said he thought Peacoe had tagged up, but he said his team didn’t make the most of its opportunities.

“Tight games always come down to who makes the plays and who doesn’t,” said McDaniel, whose team stranded eight runners on base. “In the first [inning] we got the leadoff batter [Sykes] on and twice missed getting the bunt down. ... If we just got the bunt down we’d have had a run in the first inning. It’s the little things that you don’t do that kill you and that’s really what it was tonight.”

Seymour made the somewhat controversial call on Peacoe moot in the bottom of the sixth.

She drilled the first pitch from Peacoe deep to right, leaving Dick nothing to do but turn and chase after it.

With the fence 300 feet away (all the way around the field) at Sherando Park, Seymour had plenty of time to circle the bases for the inside-the-park home run.

Seymour said her homer — that gave her team a key insurance run and a 3-1 advantage — was a first.

“I’ve kind of been struggling recently with hitting and haven’t been finding the holes,” said Seymour, who went 2 for 3 and scored a pair of runs. “I was really just concentrating on getting up there and making contact. It’s my first home run at any level.”

Even though Seymour’s homer didn’t clear the fence, it still counts in the book that way and her 2-for-3 performance at the plate (with two runs scored) counted even more against Peacoe.

Peacoe (4-5) certainly did her part, keeping James Wood in the game throughout. The Colonels sophomore turned in a solid effort in the loss, striking out 12, including eight straight from the first through third inning.

“Sherando’s a good team, and I don’t think they made but one error,” McDaniel said. “We just didn’t do the job tonight. We had a lot of chances to score and get runs but we didn’t execute.”

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