Wood rallies past Sherando to stay unbeaten in softball

By WALT MOODY | The Winchester Star

STEPHENS CITY — Lindsey Anderson was hurting.

An injury to the James Wood catcher early in Thursday’s Conference 21 West softball clash against rival Sherando only had been acerbated by a homeplate collision later.

But with her team trailing by a run and the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, Anderson’s hot shot proved to be the difference as two runs scored and Lani Spielman pitch 22/3 innings of scoreless relief to close out the unbeaten Colonels’ 6-5 triumph over the Warriors at Sherando Park.

Colonels coach Todd Baker said he’s grown to expect grit from his catcher, The Winchester Star’s Player of the Year last season.

“She’s about as tough as they come,” Baker said. “You’ll never meet a tougher one. She’s playing through some pain right now. ... The collision at homeplate aggravated it, but she shook it off and had a great game.”

With the Colonels trailing 5-4, Anderson stepped up to the plate in the sixth after a walk to Spielman, a one-out single by Courteney Harper and a walk to Emma Van Horn loaded the bases. On a 3-1 pitch from Warrior reliever Lauren Smith, Anderson ripped a grounder into the hole that Warriors shortstop Sierra Strosnider tried to backhand. The ball hit off of Strosnider’s glove and glanced into short left field. An alert Harper raced in from second to score the winning run.

“I was just trying to relax,” said Anderson of the at-bat. “I knew we needed to get a couple more runs to get the lead or tie it. ... I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. I was just looking for a good pitch. I wasn’t going to swing at anything that didn’t look like it was in the strike zone.”

When asked if he’d rather have anyone else up in that situation Baker said, “Nobody in this country.”

Even with taking the lead, the Colonels (9-0, 2-0 conference, 2-0 Northwestern District) still had to hold off the big swinging Warriors (9-5, 1-1 conference, 3-1 district), who already had overcome a four-run deficit in the game.

Sherando had baserunners against Spielman, but the junior right-hander came up with big pitches. She got Tori Seymour, who had homered earlier, on a fly ball to center with a runner on to end the sixth. And with two baserunners on in the seventh, Spielman got Sarah Marshall on another fly to center fielder Van Horn to end the 21/2-hour contest.

“She threw really well,” Anderson said of Spielman, who struck out three and allowed two hits in her relief stint “All of her movement pitches were working real well. It was tough coming in to the situations that she was in and she did really well.”

For the Warriors, the contest was a microcosm of their season. Sherando committed four errors, with two playing a part in Wood’s two big innings.

“You spot any team as good as they are to four runs and with the pitching that they have, it’s a pretty tough task to overcome,” coach Clarence Smith said. “That was pretty disappointing on that end.”

After two scoreless innings, the Colonels broke through for four runs in the third. Harper hit River Baird’s first pitch back up the middle into center field and moved to second on Van Horn’s sacrifice bunt. Anderson and Lauren King followed with RBI doubles (one misjudged in right field). An error plated another run and Spielman’s RBI double capped the scoring when the relay throw cut down a runner at the plate.

King allowed just one hit through the first three innings, but Sherando broke through in the fourth. Korenn Paige singled and Baird walked to open the inning and both moved up on a wild pitch. Freshman Blake Conner then lined a two-run double into the left-center field gap to make the score 4-2.

“We have confidence we can score against anyone, especially when you give us 21 outs over the course of the game,” Smith said. “We’re going to put runs up on the board and we have confidence we’re going to do that.”

The Warriors got even on one big swing from Seymour. Strosnider walked to lead off the frame and Seymour drilled a 1-1 pitch far over the rope that signifies an imaginary fence to tie the game at 4-4.

“Her power is prodigious,” Smith said of the junior. “She’s a home run waiting to happen. She generates elite level bat speed.”

The Warriors weren’t finished in that frame. Paige singled and Baird was hit by a pitch before Conner chased King with a RBI single to left.

“She’s been excellent,” Smith said of Conner. “She’s been red hot. Another three hits tonight. She’s been squaring the ball up nicely.”

Spielman entered and was able to get out of the jam thanks to an alert play from first baseman Rebecca Boone and Anderson. With Sherando attempting a safety squeeze, Boone fielded Marissa Webb’s bunt and shoveled to Anderson as Baird arrived at the plate. The collision knocked Anderson over backwards, but she held the ball for the out.

“I was looking at the first baseman to get the ball and I turned around and looked at the runner and she was right there,” Anderson said. “So, she hit me.”

“It was their defense making plays and our defense not,” Smith said. “That was the difference in the game.”

The competitiveness has been a hallmark of the yearly series between the two teams.

“This is a huge win because it puts us in the position to possibly win the conference with a win down at Woodgrove in a couple of weeks,” Baker said. “That will be a tough task, also. We’re looking forward to that game. We look forward to Sherando, Woodgrove and all of these teams all year long. They circle them on the schedule. They’re excited when they play these teams.”

Harper, the area’s top hitter early in the season, led the Colonels’ nine-hit attack with three singles. The shortstop also made a fine defensive play in the first inning, holding a runner at third with one out, while getting an out at first base on a grounder.

“She’s not only a great player, she’s a great leader,” Baker said. “The kids turn to her a lot. I call her, ‘Coach Harper’ sometimes. She does a great job with the whole team.”

Conner had three hits and Paige added two for the Warriors, who finished with eight hits.

— Contact Walt Moody at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1