Skyline shuts out Colonel softball

April 21, 2012
By Kevin Trudgeon

FRONT ROYAL — What was supposed to be a matchup of the top two teams in the Northwestern District quickly turned into a laugher in Front Royal Friday evening.

Hoping to duplicate its first meeting against Skyline — a 6-5 victory that gave it the early lead in the district title race — the James Wood softball team instead suffered its worst defeat of the season.

Playing without four players, including starting shortstop Morgan Sykes who had an appendectomy early Friday morning, the Colonels were no match for a Hawks team intent on revenge, falling 12-0 in a mercy-rule shortened affair.

James Wood coach Ted McDaniel noted that his team was playing short-handed, but he said it wouldn’t have mattered who suited up for the Colonels Friday. “I want to make it clear that we’re not making any excuses, [Skyline] was by far the better team today,” McDaniel said. “They out-hit us, they out-pitched us, they out-ran us and they beat us in every way. They were by far the superior team tonight and they won and they should have won.”

That was clear from the final box score that showed James Wood (6-8, 5-2 Northwestern District) with just two hits in the game and a total of five errors.

In the first contest between the two sides Skyline (8-4, 6-1) was the team making the mistakes, spotting the Colonels a four-run lead with four errors in the first four innings back on March 29.

But Friday was a different story as the Hawks did not have a single miscue in the field and did some serious damage at the plate.

Facing James Wood sophomore ace Kierstyn Peacoe Skyline brought the lumber, or at least the aluminum.

The Hawks scored four times in the second inning, and twice more in the third, before pushing across six runs in the fourth.

Of their seven hits in the game the host Hawks had three doubles, a triple and drove the ball all the way to the outfield fence on five separate occasions.

“We did fairly well tonight,” said Skyline coach Frank Nelson. “We got trumped [Thursday] night 10-2 by Brentsville and it was just one of those nights where, as the old saying goes, they punched us in the nose and we just never got off the floor.

“But tonight I think was just a we-gotta-get-you-back game, because [James Wood] is the only team in the district that’s beaten us. So the kids wanted this one and they came out and played pretty well.”

Skyline wasted little time in showing it meant business.

After a scoreless first inning, the Hawks loaded the bases on two hit batters and an error by Peacoe on a sacrifice bunt and freshman Carrie Robinson quickly took advantage.

Facing a 1-1 count, Robinson ripped a shot over the head of James Wood right fielder Taylor Rizzari for a bases-clearing triple.

Robinson would later come in to score on teammate Hannah Ritter’s sacrifice bunt and stake Skyline to the early 4-0 lead.

The Hawks added to their lead an inning later when Lauren Moore smacked an RBI double to left-center field and Sabrie Neeb scored on a groundout, but the wheels came off for the Colonels in the fourth.

Taking advantage of three James Wood errors, Skyline sent 10 batters to the plate and had six come around to score.

On one play that typified the how things were going for the Colonels, they threw a ball away, managed to retrieve and throw it down to second for what should have been an out, only to drop the ball and allow the Skyline runner to slide in safely.

Peacoe, who was lifted in the inning, allowed all 12 runs, but McDaniel said the Colonel defense played a big factor in the loss.

“A lot of it had to do with our defense, or lack there of,” McDaniel said. “We flubbed the bunt twice, and then on one play we commit two errors.

“It wasn’t so much that [Peacoe] didn’t pitch well or that she got hit hard, we had the chance to make outs and we didn’t. And then we didn’t score any runs and I’ve never seen a team win a game when they don’t score any runs.”

Rizzari had both of the Colonels’ hits in the game, finishing 2 for 2 with a stolen base, and senior Megan Christian was the only other play to reach base when she drew a one-out walk in the third inning.

Skyline pitcher Sarah Beamer went all five innings and struck out six.

McDaniel said that three of his players, who were away on a field trip, will be back next week and he hopes to see Sykes on the field in two weeks, but he knows that there is work to be done before the Colonels host the Hawks in their third and final regular season meeting on May 10.

“We’ve got improve and we’ve got to get better if we’re going to beat them,” McDaniel said. “I told them we’re not going to practice [today]. We had three games this week, they’re tired and I’m tired. So we’re going to rest up and we’ve got Handley on Tuesday next week and we’re looking no further than that.”

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