James Wood Falls To Warren County In Softball

Posted: March 24, 2016
By JOSH DORSEY
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Warren County did its damage early and rode the arm of freshman pitcher Elizabeth Keener to a 6-2 non-conference softball win over James Wood on Wednesday.

The Wildcats (1-0) scored five runs in the second inning and that was plenty for Keener, who tossed a four-hitter.

“Hats off to their young pitcher,” James Wood coach Todd Baker said. “She did a really good job moving the ball in and out on the plate and changing speeds. I was very impressed with her tonight.”

Keener walked the Colonels’ Courteney Harper on five pitches to start her high school career. Then she didn’t allow James Wood’s stacked lineup to get a hit until the bottom of the fourth inning. Keener amassed eight strikeouts in her debut.

“I was very pleased with the first game,” Keener said. “When I first walked the first batter I pushed harder. I really keep focused on the glove, it’s hard to put it in words. ... I was really nervous coming out here since I’m a freshman against all these upperclassman. I just wanted to show them that I can be out here as a freshman going against these older girls.”

“They have a very good hitting lineup,” said Warren County coach Justin Stock of the Colonels. “To only give up two runs was a very good job. Elizabeth threw very well and kept them off balanced. In the first inning to give up the leadoff walk I thought we were going to be in trouble but we got out of it and minimized damage.”

The Wildcats threatened in the first inning. Arianna Smoot doubled and a Colonels error put Keener on base. Wood starting pitcher Lani Spielman recorded two of her six strikeouts to escape the inning with no damage.

The second inning was a different story.

After James Wood recorded two outs and appeared to be headed to the safety of its dugout, Warren County reeled off four straight hits.

Catcher Emma Wright got the outburst started with a two-run double. Morgan Coons blooped an RBI single and Smoot plated her with an RBI triple. Keener capped the scoring with a single.

The Colonels (1-2) struggled at the plate. They did manage four walks off of Keener but could not find any holes in the Wildcat defense until the fourth inning.

“This lineup is very talented and right now the hitters are just a little behind everything,” Baker said. “I’m not sure what is going to change but it will change. Right now the girls are just rolling a little bit behind in the hitting.”

The Colonels first hit came from a reserve. Lauren King earned a leadoff walk in the fourth and worked her way around the bases. Baker then called on Haley Kaiser who lined a single to right field to break up the no-hitter and the shutout.

Kaiser was also responsible for James Wood’s other run by driving in Rebecca Boone on a fielder’s choice in the sixth inning.

“We had some bright spots,” Baker said. “We had some girls come off the bench and perform. I put Hailey Kaiser in a bad spot at third base and she came in and played great defensively and got a hit down the line for us.”

King, who started the game at third base, replaced Spielman in the top of the fourth and allowed just two hits and one earned run.

“It’s tough to stop a team when they get rolling like that but [King] came in and gave us a chance. We had some baserunners late in scoring position but just couldn’t come up with the big hit.”