Softball - Warriors Turn Back Colonels

Posted: May 23, 2015
By JERRY HOLSWORTH
Special to The Winchester Star

STEPHENS CITY — When two cross-county rivals get together for a softball game, sparks are bound to fly. Add to that a Conference 21 semifinal match where the loser’s season ends, and the winner advances to the conference championship and a regional tournament berth and you have a recipe for an intense battle.

That’s exactly what happened Friday as Sherando outdueled James Wood 8-4 at Sherando Park. The Warriors (17-4) clinched a regional berth and advanced to play at top-seeded Woodgrove at 6 p.m. Tuesday for the conference championship.

“We have a very talented team, and we try hard to focus on the present and not think too much about the future,” Sherando coach Clarence Smith said. “But I’d be lying to you if I said this hasn’t been on our mind for a long time. Sherando has only made the regions two or three times in school history and we’ve never played in a conference championship game. We’re really elated to have advanced this far, and hope to go further.”

For the youthful Colonels, who had two freshmen in the circle, it was a heartbreaking end to an excellent season.

“I thought that we showed a lot of heart coming back after falling behind,” Wood coach Todd Baker said. “We thought that our comeback put us in a good position but you have to hand it to Sherando they’re well coached and they kept their composure and took the lead back.”

Colonel freshman Lani Spielman and Warrior senior Hannah Lockhart both performed brilliantly through the first three innings in the circle. Lockhart struck out two and walked just one through three scoreless innings. Spielman was just as sharp, but was victimized by an error in the third that gave Sherando a 1-0 lead.

Warrior Tori Seymour led off the third by reaching on an infield error. She eventually scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Katie Manson.

Sherando garnered four hits and added another two runs in the fourth. Lexi Schlag led off the inning with a triple to deep right-center field, then scored on a single up the middle by Korenn Paige. Carly Nixon later plated Paige with an infield single.

Lauren King replaced Spielman and got the Colonels out of the inning, but with Lockhart seemingly in control and having a three-run lead, things looked bleak for Wood.

Wood (16-6) responded with a four-run fifth inning to completely turn things around. Taylor Woolsey got things started when she was hit by a pitch with one out. Alyssa Brown followed with a single that sent Woolsey to second.

A throwing error on Kenzie Garrett’s bunt scored Woolsey and Brown and sent Garrett to third. Garrett scored on a wild pitch to tie the score 3-3.

Singles by Courteney Harper and Lindsey Anderson put runners on the corners with still one out. A fielder’s choice by King scored Harper and put the Colonels up 4-3.

The brilliant recovery by Wood, however, was their last hurrah and the Warriors responded with vengeance in their half of the fifth.

Taking advantage of two King walks, and another Colonel error Sherando scored twice in the fifth to take the lead for good.

Niki Marshall, who bats last for the Warriors, got the game-winning hit when her single up the middle scored Heidi Brown and Sara Stickman to put Sherando up 5-4.

“I’ve actually been in that position before so it wasn’t new to me,” Marshall said. “The bases were loaded with two outs and we were down a run. I knew that I needed to put the ball in play and get on base. We wanted to get this win, and that was our chance, and I had to take advantage of it.”

The Warriors scored another three runs in the sixth to finish the scoring.

Lockhart got the win for Sherando, scattering four hits and four runs through seven innings in the circle.