Clarke County slams way to softball win over James Wood

WINCHESTER — The message to Clarke County’s softball players was, “Let them hear you in Berryville!” prior to their cheer to wrap-up their post-game talk.

Impressively, the Eagles still had the strength to summon one more roar after numerous celebrations of their offensive prowess at James Wood’s Ridge Field.

Highlighted by junior catcher Chelsea Trenary’s go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning, Clarke County earned a season split with the Colonels with a dramatic 9-8 win on Monday.

Megan Hicks — who came on in relief of Jade Feltner in the sixth inning — struck out Mackenzie McCarty with two outs and runners on second and third to end the game one at-bat after Lani Spielman’s RBI single cut the Eagles’ lead to one.

“James Wood is a great team,” said Trenary, whose two-out home run just inside the left-field foul pole in the top of the sixth inning turned Clarke County’s 7-5 deficit into a 9-7 lead. “To beat them with the heart that we beat them with gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.”

Monday’s game was a dramatic reversal from the first matchup.

Clarke County (12-5) was held to one hit by Lauren King in an 8-0 shutout loss to the Colonels in Berryville on March 24.

But on Monday the Eagles generated seven hits and four walks, and they took advantage of being hit with two pitches and four James Wood errors to hand a rare defeat to the Colonels (15-3), who led 7-4 after scoring six runs in the fifth inning.

Clarke County tagged King for four runs (one earned) and four hits in the first four innings, then rallied from a 7-4 deficit against Spielman in the sixth, with three walks and a hit-by-pitch preceding Trenary’s blast. Haley Haun (1 for 3 with three RBIs) drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 7-5 Colonels.

“I think it’s a great win for us. We haven’t fared too well [against James Wood] since this group has come up with [juniors] Lani and Lauren pitching,” Eagles coach Susan Grubbs said. “When [James Wood] got those runs on us and got ahead, our kids came right back at them hard.”

Monday’s win was the eighth in 10 games for the Eagles, a stretch that features the only victory any team has had against Madison County (16-1).

“Our kids have been really resilient,” Grubbs said. “They’ve been playing really good ball. They’ve been playing hard, and there’s not much more you can ask for.

“The kids came to play really well-prepared today. I think we had better quality at-bats [compared to the first James Wood game]. We were going with the pitch and took some walks, which we didn’t do much of in the first game.”

Haun’s based-loaded walk set the stage for Trenary, who drove the first pitch she saw from Spielman.

“When Haley walked, I got up there with a little bit of nerves, because I was like, ‘It’s now or never,’” Trenary said. “It was an inside pitch, and I just took it down the left side. When I saw it go over the fence, it was a rush of ‘Wow,’ because I really helped out my team, and that’s the only thing I can ask for.”

James Wood went down in order in the sixth against Hicks (two innings, one run, two hits, four strikeouts), but the Colonels nearly pulled the game out in the seventh.

With one out, King (2 for 4, RBI) singled and Camryn Rizzari (2 for 3, double, two RBIs) walked. After Hailey Kaiser (1 for 4, RBI) struck out, Spielman (2 for 3, two-run home run in fifth, three RBIs) hit a ground single between short and third to drive in a run and make it 9-8.

Hicks then started tentatively against McCarty, firing a pitch too high for Trenary to grab to move the runners to second and third.

“I just had to calm down and make sure I didn’t do that again,” Hicks said.

McCarty worked the count to 3-2 against Hicks, then fouled off the sixth pitch. With the crowd roaring, Hicks then fired a pitch on the outside of the plate that McCarty couldn’t connect with to end the game.

“I didn’t quite put it where I wanted it, but I’ll take it anyway I can,” Hicks said.

Clarke County struck out 12 batters total, as Feltner (5-0) fanned eight and allowed one unearned run on three hits in the first four innings before tiring in the fifth.

Battling injuries, James Wood lost for the third time in four games on Monday.

Catcher Lindsey Anderson — The Winchester Star Softball Player of the Year in 2016 — has had her at-bats limited since suffering a right hand injury two weeks ago (she started at catcher on Monday but didn’t hit until the fifth inning). First baseman Rebecca Boone did not play Monday because of a sprained ankle suffered on Thursday against Sherando. James Wood coach Todd Baker figures by the time the postseason rolls around next week his players should be at close to full strength.

“We’re giving teams extra outs defensively right now, and not a great plate approach tonight for us,” Baker said. “But Clarke is a team that’s very well-coached, and they’re always scrappy. It’s hard to put teams away like that.

“We took the lead in the middle innings, but I knew they weren’t done, because they just don’t give up. They came back on us and won the game. It was a good softball game.”

Whitney Mitchell (1 for 4, two RBIs), Sheilia Nappi (2 for 4), Hannah Trenary (two runs) and Feltner, who went 2 for 4 at the plate, also led Clarke County

Alyssa Brown (1 for 4, RBI) and Courteney Harper, who had a double, also led James Wood.

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